Exam Nightmares
by gladrags2012
Summary: MI9 have changed the rules about what makes an agent. The whole team have to apply for their jobs all over again, but the rules have changed. Will they still be a team at the end of the week, or will some of them be going forever ?
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own MI High or its characters. Just borrowing.**

**Do spies sit exams ? Who makes a good spy ? The rules have changed and the team have to apply to be spies again. Will they all make it through the latest challenges or will some have to leave forever ?**

The team stood in front of Frank looking shell-shocked. "What ?" asked Aneisha.

Frank sighed. He knew this wasn't going to be easy. Judging by the looks on his team's faces, they weren't taking this well. "The whole of MI9 has been through a restructuring exercise," he repeated. "There has been a comprehensive review of personnel within the organisation and as a result of that review the whole MI High Project has been revised. MI9 want a different structure to the MI High team and this means that you will all have to apply for your place on the team and go through a series of exercises and tests to determine if you fit the new criteria for your jobs," he explained carefully.

"Haven't we been any good ?" asked Dan, looking faintly hurt.

"Yes, of course you have. The team has been highly successful," said Frank. He sighed. There was no easy way to say this. "It's just that they want it to be the best it can be. They want us to be the best we can be and they're looking for improvements," he added.

"What sort of improvements ?" asked Zoe.

"Well, they're talking about flexibility of roles. They want all round performers who can meet the physical fitness requirements, operate in many different roles and be technically savvy," said Frank.

"Didn't we do that before ?" asked Tom.

"Well, to an extent yes, but when we recruited you, we looked for specialists within the team too," said Frank. "Hence, Tom for your technical skills, Aneisha for her infiltration and disguise skills and Dan for his physical skills. Primarily obviously !" said Frank, trying to sugar the pill a little. "I'm not saying that you're not good at your jobs !" he said despairingly.

"But MI9 are, aren't they ?" asked Dan, sulkily.

"No, not at all !" said Frank firmly. "Look, this should be a simple formality. You are all going to be referred for some tests and exercises to check that you meet MI9's new criteria. I am absolutely confident that you are all going to pass with flying colours. I'm sure there's absolutely nothing to worry about," he finished, with the best big smile he could muster. The silence which greeted his words slowly rubbed the smile off his face. This was going to be hell. "Anyway, lunch is nearly over. You'd better get back to your lessons. I'll call you when you're needed for your first exercise," said Frank quietly.

Tom, Zoe, Aneisha and Dan turned in silence and walked to the lift. The doors closed and he heard the familiar swish of the departing lift. Frank sighed and leaned back in his chair. Footsteps approached across the floor. He recognised the steps and didn't bother to turn to see who it was.

"Have you told them ?" asked Stella.

"Yes," said Frank.

"How did they take it ?" asked Stella.

"Badly," said Frank.

"I'm not surprised," said Stella. "It's going to be tough on them."

"Is this really necessary ?" asked Frank, not for the first time.

"We think so," said Stella. "It has to be the MI High team. It won't work any other way," she said.

As the team walked through the teeming corridors of the school to their first afternoon lesson, nobody spoke. Finally Zoe broke the silence. "It can't be that bad can it ?" she asked. The others looked at her.

"You are good at everything," said Aneisha. "I'm not blaming you Zoe, but out of all four of us, you are probably the only one with nothing to worry about. Your SKUL training makes you unique. I'm an OK fighter and hopeless at technical stuff. It's only the undercover stuff that I'm good at," she said.

"I'm way off a field agent," complained Tom. "I'm never going to be good at fighting am I ?" he asked.

"You did brilliantly on your own with Bobby Bleach and the Germinator," Aneisha reminded him. "You are a good field agent. It's just that you're better at other things."

"At least you can get a bit fitter," said Dan heavily. "I'm never going to get any cleverer, no matter what I do."

"You're not stupid !" said Zoe. "You think of lots of things ! You brought down the phoney Edwin Grosse with a ball of string, and you stopped that RAT with a cheese stick."

"I don't think MI9 count the use of string as technical expertise," said Dan. "I don't know where rubber bands and cheese sticks come on the scale of weaponry expertise either ! Aw, this sucks !" he said despairingly. "What are we going to do ?"

They all walked into Maths. Dan flung his bag on the floor by his desk and dropped into his usual chair. "Right class," announced Mr. McNab. "We're nearing the end of term and to check on progress, we're going to have a series of spot tests. Today we will be starting with a 30 minute spot test on Fractions, Percentages and Decimals !" Dan looked in dismay as a test sheet landed on his desk. Things could not get any worse. "30 minutes class. Absolute silence. No exceptions !" barked Mr. McNab.

Tom finished his test sheet with over five minutes to spare. He glanced around. Aneisha was nearing the end of her test sheet by the looks of it. So was Zoe. He sneaked a look at Dan, who seemed to be only about two thirds of the way down his sheet. Or was that 67%, Tom wondered happily to himself ? Then he mentally slapped himself. This was not fair. Dan was obviously having trouble concentrating, which was no surprise after what they'd just heard from Frank.

Finally they were instructed to put down their pens and hand in their work. "How did you get on ?" Tom whispered to Dan.

"Just don't ask," said Dan, looking away. The normally implacable Dan had a hint of despair in his eyes.

The last two periods were double games. This was Tom's least favourite part of the week. Needless to say, Zoe and Dan both loved it. The boys were given circuit training: a drill of different exercises around the gym. There were press-ups, squat thrusts and things Tom couldn't even remember the names of. Dan laid into the exercises, lapping Tom at least once as he went from one station to the next. He was obviously taking out his frustration in his usual way, with physical exercise. At the end of the session, the boys all piled into the changing rooms, sweaty and tired.

Tom slumped onto a bench. "There's no way I'm going to do this," he puffed. "I'm never going to be like you," he said to Dan.

Dan was leaning his head on his hand. "You'll be OK," he said. "A bit more exercise and fewer biscuits and you'll be fit. It'll be OK." The bell rang for the end of the day. "Come on. Let's go home."

Zoe and Aneisha were waiting for them when they came out. The four silently made their way through the school yard to the gates. Roly ran past them, faster than he'd managed all through PE. "Hey cheer up you lot !" he shouted as he jogged past. "It might not happen !" he yelled over his shoulder with a grin.

"Oh, I think it will !" said Aneisha dolefully.


	2. Chapter 2

**Do spies sit exams ? Who makes a good spy ? The rules have changed and the team have to apply to be spies all over again. Will they all make it through the latest challenges ?**

_Zoe and Aneisha were waiting for them when they came out. The four silently made their way through the school yard to the gates. Roly ran past them, faster than he'd managed all through PE. "Hey cheer up you lot !" he shouted as he jogged past. "It might not happen !" he yelled over his shoulder with a grin._

"_Oh, I think it will !" said Aneisha dolefully._

Dan said very little through dinner with his parents. They looked at him in concern, but when they asked gently if everything was all right, he just grunted and nodded. Dan's Mum looked at his father who slightly shook his head. They left him to his thoughts.

Later that same evening Dan was sitting in his bedroom, strumming his guitar. This usually helped him to relax, but for some reason it wasn't working this time. His phone chimed with a text message. It was from Frank. They would be picked up early on Saturday morning and taken to a training camp for the start of their assessment. With a heavy heart, Dan acknowledged the message and went back to his guitar.

Lying in bed, Dan couldn't shake off the image of when he attended MI9 training camp the first time. He had wired up a radio transmitter incorrectly and shorted it out. The resulting explosion blew a piece of metal through the lab window, shattering two glass panes. The embarrassment still haunted Dan to this day. There was no way he was going to pass this test.

"Daniel ! Wake up darling !" said an insistent voice. Someone had hold of his shoulders. With a shock, Dan woke up. "Daniel, it's all right. It's Mum," said the voice gently. He looked around, confused and in shock. He was shaking and cold. Where was he ?

It was dark and a faint light shone through a window ahead. He was standing at the top of the stairs.

"Daniel, come back to bed dear. I don't know how long you've been standing here," said Dan's Mum. "Come on love," she said, pulling gently on his shoulders. He stood taller than his Mum now, but she had a firm grip on his arms and she pulled him away from the stairs. He heard her sigh of relief. She took him to his room, switched on the bedside lamp and made him get back into bed. The bed was cold and he was shivering violently now. After a minute his Dad came in, holding a hot water bottle and a steaming mug of something.

"Here we go son. Tuck that in !" said his Dad, handing him the hot water bottle. Dan wrapped the duvet round himself and the hot water bottle. His Dad put the cup down on the bedside table, and Dan smelt hot chocolate. Slowly the shivering started to subside. His Mum sat on one side of the bed and his Dad sat on the other.

"Well, it's quite a while since you went sleepwalking," said his mother, handing him the cup of hot cocoa. "I don't think this has happened since that mission where you nearly lost Zoe," she said.

Dan looked at his mother in surprise. "How did you know about that ?" he asked her.

"Well, you were walking around in the night saying her name, and how you were going to get her back no matter what," explained her mother. "It's just when you stand at the top of the stairs that I get frightened," she added.

"I'm sorry," said Dan quietly. "I've made a right nuisance of myself. I've obviously got a big mouth when I'm asleep too," he added bitterly. "What did I say this time ?" he asked.

"Oh Dan !" said his Mum, giving him a hug. "You were saying something about, you'd never be good enough. What's going on love ?" she asked him gently.

Dan sighed. "You know who, well, the people I work for," he said, looking at his parents under raised eyebrows. They nodded. His Dad tapped the side of his nose. This made Dan smile a little. "Yes, them, well, they've decided to change how they pick the people who work for them and they've changed what they want so that each person has to be really good at everything," he explained. His shoulders sagged. "I'm just not good at everything. I'm frightened I'm going to fail and I'll lose everything. I'll lose my friends," he explained, almost in a whisper. There, he'd said it. He was frightened. There weren't many things that frightened Dan. Losing his job and his friends frightened him more than anything. He wrapped his fingers tightly round the mug in his hands. It was all he'd ever wanted, to be a spy and have friends like Tom, Aneisha and Zoe.

Dan's parents exchanged an anguished glance across his drooping head. They each wrapped an arm around his shoulders and hugged him tightly. "Dan, you always surprise us, and I'm sure you'll surprise yourself," said his Dad firmly. "They'd be mad to let you go. I'm sure everything is going to be fine. There isn't a human being alive who can do everything," he added.

"Zoe can," said Dan softly.

"Ah, but can she knit ?" asked his mother. He looked at her in disbelief.

"Can she play the violin ?" asked his father. Dan turned and looked at his Dad. He was taking the mickey surely !

"I don't know if she's tried," said Dan confused. Then he caught the look of mischief in his Dad's eyes. "Dad !" he complained, but couldn't help laughing in spite of himself. "You two !" he said, exasperated.

"Just proves our point," said his Mum. "Nobody can do everything, and only an idiot would expect them to. I'm sure you are just as good at what you do as everyone else who does it," she said, pausing and obviously mentally reviewing what she'd just said, to see if it made sense.

Dan smiled at her fondly. "Thanks Mum. And Dad. Sorry I woke you up," he said with a yawn.

His Mum took the mug from him, and his Dad flattened out his duvet. "Lie down son," said his Dad. "You'll feel a better in the morning," he assured him. "Just take it as it comes hey ?"

Finally warm and comfortable, Dan drifted off to sleep. His Mum flicked off the bedside light and his parents quietly left the room.

Once in their own room Dan's Mum spoke. "Do you think we should tell Frank ?" she asked.

"He told us to report anything unusual," said Dan's Dad. "Yes, we should tell him. What happens if Dan starts sleepwalking somewhere else. He could hurt himself." Dan's Dad pulled a small phone from his bedside table. It was only used to call Frank, and Dan didn't know they had it. "Hello, Frank ? I'm sorry to wake you. You said we should report any unusual behaviour in the coming weeks. Yes, Dan was sleepwalking tonight. I don't know how long he was walking around, but he was frozen and talking to himself when we found him at the top of the stairs. What ? Oh he's fine now. He's back in bed. Obviously upset and anxious about the whole thing. Are you sure this is really necessary ?" There was no hiding the concern in his voice. "Yes, well, thankyou, we would appreciate that," he said. "Goodnight Frank."

"What did he say ?" asked Dan's Mum.

"He'll make sure Dan's kept safe," said his Dad. "Come on. Let's get to bed."

Frank closed the call and lay back in his bed. He had been awake when the Morgans had called. He had expected that the anxiety would affect Dan the worst out of all the team. Dan always expected too much from himself. He was probably acutely aware of his own lack of experience. What frustrated Frank the most with running the MI High project was explaining to other people that the youngsters' lack of experience was often their strength. They simply did not operate like other, more experienced spies and this was often what gave them their edge. They did the unexpected and thought of the things everyone else overlooked. He hated doing this to them. It simply wasn't fair.

Frank sighed and picked up his bedside clock. It was 2 am. He needed to get some sleep. This weekend was going to be busy. He turned off the light and rolled over. Frank relaxed his shoulders and tried to take his mind back to that holiday in the Canary Islands with Stella. Hot sun, cool sea breezes and ice cold drinks. He smiled at the memory. Taking a mental stroll along the beach at sunset with his arm around Stella, Frank London finally got off to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**The team have to reapply for their jobs. Can everyone meet the new criteria or will some of them lose their place on the team.**

The team were collected by a large people carrier on Saturday morning. Frank was already in the van which picked up Tom first. "Tom, before the others are picked up I want you to do something for me," said Frank. Tom looked up expectantly. "You will be sharing a room with Dan. You need to know that Dan, when he is very stressed, tends to sleepwalk. I need you to keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn't hurt himself OK ?"

"Sure," said Tom, looking concerned. "What does he do exactly ?"

"Apparently he walks about in his sleep talking to himself," said Frank.

"Oh. Do you know when he's likely to do this ?" asked Tom.

"It could happen at any time. I just want you to know so that it doesn't catch you by surprise, that's all," said Frank. Tom nodded, still looking a little wary. "Oh, and Dan doesn't know I've told you OK ?" warned Frank. "It's just between me and you. Don't tell the others."

Tom took a deep breath. "OK," he said, obviously reluctant to keep a secret from the others.

Soon they were at Aneisha' house, then they collected Zoe from her MI9 orphanage and finally, Dan. Tom thought Dan looked a bit tired. He wondered if Dan had already started his midnight rambles.

Frank tried to encourage some chat on the journey to the MI9 training centre, but nobody seemed keen to join in. Eventually he gave up and they completed the trip in silence. The four teens hefted their bags out of the car boot while Frank went off to speak to the camp commander. "I hope this isn't going to be our last time together," said Aneisha, finally breaking the silence. They all looked at one another glumly.

"We don't know that we're going to fail yet," said Zoe hopefully. "Let's not give up now. Everyone is good at something. I'm sure we can help each other." This cheered everyone up a little. Aneisha gave Zoe a hug.

They all looked around as they heard a call from Frank. Picking up their bags they followed him into an office in one of the buildings. "Right team !" said Frank, sounding upbeat. "This is your commander for the reassessment period. This is Agent Harper," he said gesturing towards a tall, military looking man with short hair. He nodded at them.

"Welcome everyone. You are the only team here on reassessment. All of our other agents attending are here on routine training. You will be joining in with many of their activities and there will be some particular to you. While you are here you will be known as Team Topaz. Your coordinator is going to be our Technical Leader, Agent Marshall," said Agent Harper, glancing at his watch. There was a knock at the door and it opened to reveal another, slightly younger man.

"Sorry I'm a bit late Sir," said the man. "Had to clear up a bit of a mess in the lab," he explained. He looked at the group of solemn looking teens and grinned. "Hello, you must be Frank's team ! I'm Agent Marshall. I'll be overseeing your assessment programme," he said, holding out his hand. They all shook hands. "Frank, great to see you again old chap !" he said, smiling and shaking Frank's hand.

"Good to see you too Alfie," said Frank. "Well, I'd better be going team. I'll see you later next week. Good luck !" he said before leaving.

Agent Marshall led them to the dormitory block where they had been assigned two rooms. On the way they passed a couple of workmen hammering a wooden board over a broken window. "Another pane out !" said Agent Marshall happily.

"What happened ?" asked Dan curiously.

"Oh, someone shorted out a radio they were building. Exploded and shot through the window," explained Agent Marshall.

"Does it happen often ?" asked Tom.

"Oh, about once a fortnight. I thought of requesting bullet proof glass, but they'd probably break something else," said Agent Marshall. Dan kept his head down and said nothing. Finally they reached the dormitory block and they were shown to their study bedrooms. "I'll see you at 10am sharp in training room 4," he said. "Map on the back of the door. Bye !"

Tom and Dan dropped their bags and sat on the beds. Tom checked his watch. "15 minutes," he said. "You all right ? You look a bit stressed," he said.

"I don't know if I can pass the technical test," said Dan quietly. "I don't see how."

"I'll help you," offered Tom. "Come on. We don't know how hard it's going to be yet. Let's get changed and find this classroom. It can't be any worse than being at school can it ?" he asked. Dan managed half a smile and they got ready.

In the girls' room there was much less chat than usual. "You don't look too worried," said Aneisha.

"It can't be that hard," said Zoe. "I did most of my training at SKUL. At least they don't threaten to lock you up if you fail here," she added cheerfully.

"Zoe," said Aneisha, before stopping. She took a deep breath before starting again. "It's just that I'll really miss you."

"What ? Why ?" asked Zoe, baffled.

"Zoe, none of us is brilliant at everything. I can fight a bit, but not as well as you and Dan. I can work a computer, but I'll never be as good as Tom. There's no way I'm going to pass this assessment," said Aneisha in despair. Zoe sat down and put her arm around Aneisha's shoulders. "And, there's the other thing," said Aneisha hesitantly. Zoe looked at her questioningly. "Well, I don't suppose Dan can pass all of the tests either, so you could be the only one of us left on the team you know," said Aneisha. She saw the thought she had placed in Zoe's mind starting to take hold.

"But, he, I mean, you can't all go !" said Zoe. She was beginning to understand the gravity of the situation. "No ! It's not going to happen. We'll help each other. We'll pass together," she said in a determined voice. "We can do it Aneisha. I know it," said Zoe squeezing Aneisha's shoulders. "I didn't escape from SKUL just to lose all of my friends as well. No way ! Come on, we need to get ready."

They had just changed when there was a knock on their door. Dan and Tom were waiting outside. They walked to the classroom in silence. When they entered the room there were several other agents sitting at tables. "Good, Team Topaz. Take a seat each," said a woman at the front of the room. "On each table is some material for you to study, relating to a technical challenge. You are to read the material and complete the technical challenge within one hour. Begin !" she ordered, starting a timer on her watch. They all pulled open the reading material and began reading as quickly as they could. The material described a bomb which was about to explode. They had to deactivate it correctly using the construction information they had been given.

Tom glanced at the others. Everyone was busy reading. He picked up the device and rechecked some details in the construction information. It looked like a pretty basic model, similar to the ones they had studied in their original training. All that was required was to cut the blue wire. He did so, and the countdown timer on his device stopped. The trainer noticed, came over and nodded, noting his time on her clipboard. Tom sat back and watched the rest of the class. Zoe finished next. Soon other trainees were finishing. Aneisha sighed loudly. She had finished successfully. Dan was the only one still working. He glanced up anxiously at the clock, muttered to himself and picked up the wire cutters. "Go on Dan. It's the blue one," Tom thought to himself, willing Dan to get it right. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Dan holding the cutters against the blue wire. Dan cut the wire. There was a loud bang, paper was thrown across the room and Dan was thrown backwards off his chair.

"Dan ! Are you all right ?" asked Zoe, rushing to his side.

The tutor pulled out her clipboard. "Agent Morgan. Fail," she said tonelessly.

"No way !" complained Tom, as Zoe helped Dan to his feet. "I saw what he did. He cut the blue wire !"

"All of the tests are not identical Agent Tupper," said the tutor blankly. "Your assignment is complete. You may go to the dining hall," she instructed them.


	4. Chapter 4

**The team have to earn their places on the team by passing all the MI9 training tests. Will this be the end of the team or can they help get each other through ?**

"_No way !" complained Tom, as Zoe helped Dan to his feet. "I saw what he did. He cut the blue wire !"_

"_All of the tests are not identical Agent Tupper," said the tutor blankly. "Your assignment is complete. You may go to the dining hall," she instructed them._

"I'm sure I did what I was supposed to," said Dan resting his forehead on the palm of his hand. They were sitting in the dining hall, each with a tray of food in front of them, but none of them was eating.

"I thought you did too," said Tom. "It was definitely the blue wire."

"Mine was the blue one," said Aneisha.

"Mine too," said Zoe. "Why would Dan's be different ?" she wondered.

"Maybe they thought I would copy you," said Dan.

"You didn't though. I was watching you," said Tom.

Dan looked up at him. "You were ?" he said, surprised.

"Yeah. Well, it's not as if I've got anything else to do," pointed out Tom. He looked at his watch. "We'd better eat. They've got something else for this afternoon." Everyone started to eat.

After checking the notice board they found that the whole team had been assigned to the assault course on their own. Tom groaned, "No way. I can never get over that wall !"

"It's a state of mind Tom," said Aneisha. "You've got to believe you can do it, otherwise you won't." Tom looked at her helplessly.

"We'll help," promised Dan. "Come on. We need to get going."

An instructor met them at the start of the assault course. "Today you are on a timed course. You are to complete all obstacles successfully within 45 minutes. The course is two kilometres long. Return to this point," instructed the trainer. He pressed his watch. "Go !"

They set off at a steady pace towards the first obstacle. This was a high frame with a net on one side. They all clambered up it relatively easily. Getting down was a little trickier. Tom stumbled and Zoe caught him before he fell into some posts. "Well done Tom," she encouraged him. Tom could only smile slightly because he was already out of breath. They set off again as a team towards some posts set in the ground. They jumped up and stepped from post to post. Zoe danced over them without difficulty. Dan followed close behind. Aneisha took them a little more slowly and Tom picked his way across much more slowly. Aneisha waited for him to finish and they ran after the other two. After crawling through some concrete tunnels, and under nets, they reached the obstacle which Tom had been dreading.

The wall looked about eight feet high to Tom. "Run hard at it Tom and jump !" gasped Aneisha. "You can do it ! Go on !" Tom did as she told him. He ran as hard as he could at the wall and jumped, reaching his arms up to try to grab the top. His heart sank as he realised his hands were way short of the top of the wall. Before he could fall back two arms reached down and grabbed his hands, pulling him up. He looked into Dan's grinning face, then Zoe's.

"Thanks guys !" said Tom gratefully. "I would never have done it without you," he panted, jumping down. The others then helped Aneisha who had managed the jump, but was struggling to climb over the top. They all got down from the wall and ran the rest of the course together. Zoe and Dan ran comfortably to the finish. Aneisha arrived a second or two behind and Tom arrived last, gasping for breath, bright red in the face and sweating.

The instructor showed no emotion as he pressed his watch button. "You have all successfully completed that assignment. It was however intended as an individual test. Agents Morgan and London you have failed to better your target and so you will be deducted credits accordingly," said the man sternly. "You may shower and change and then you are to attend a briefing in Room 5 at 1500 hours. Dismissed !" he said, before turning and leaving.

Dan's face had fallen. "What ? What did we do wrong this time ?" he panted.

"What ? This is just so unfair !" complained Aneisha. "How is working as a team wrong ? I'm going to tell Frank about this," she said.

A very dejected team walked into the meeting room where they had been told to go. Agent Marshall was there. "Ah team, welcome back. I have a challenge for you to complete for tomorrow. This is another technical challenge which you must complete individually. The materials are here," he said pointing to various booths at the end of the room. "As I said, you must complete this task individually without helping one another. Agent Greening will oversee the test and record your times of completion," he explained, pointing to the woman who had overseen their previous test. "Good luck !" he said, before leaving the room.

Each of the agents took a seat in their booth and started looking over the exercise. Tom had a look over the circuitry in front of him and guessed what he was supposed to produce. He nodded on finding himself correct and set about putting together the components to produce the item he was supposed to make. He glanced around but wasn't able to see the others so he couldn't tell how they were getting on. The task was fairly simple. He hoped that Dan would be able to get on top of it quickly this time. He put down the finished item and stood up. Agent Greening checked his results and told him he could leave. Tom went to the mess hall and got himself a hot drink while he waited for the others to finish. Zoe arrived next, followed closely by Aneisha. They gathered together. There was no sign of Dan. Tom checked his watch. "He'll be all right," said Aneisha. "It wasn't that bad."

Meanwhile Dan was struggling. The instructions didn't make sense. Everything sort of fitted together but the finished item didn't make any sense. He turned it around in his hands. He was acutely aware that all the others had finished. He was on his own in the room. Why couldn't he get this to work ? Finally he tossed down the written instructions in disgust. These were worse than useless. Staring at the half-completed device he had a brainwave. Why not put it together like the ones they used on missions. He desperately thought back to the devices Frank had given them. They didn't look like this one. Dan took the device apart, and started putting it together so that it looked more like one of Frank's. Finally, everything clicked into place. He tested it, and it worked.

Dan jumped to his feet in triumph. Agent Greening looked up from her desk and came over. She checked over his work and smiled slightly. "Well done Agent Morgan. Unfortunately you have failed to meet the target time for this exercise," she said, not meeting his eyes. "You may join your colleagues." She turned and went back to her desk, ignoring him as she made some notes on her paperwork. Feeling totally deflated, Dan left the room.

The others jumped up to greet him when he arrived in the mess hall. It was nearly the end of the meal break. "How did you get on Dan ? Did you do it ?" asked Aneisha.

"Yeah, once I decided to ignore the instructions," said Dan. "They didn't make any sense. I didn't meet the target time though. So I still failed it," he said.

The others looked at him helplessly. "It's going to be OK Dan," said Zoe hugging him tightly. He wrapped his arms around her and pressed his face into her hair. He couldn't face losing her, or any of them. What was he going to do ? This whole reassessment business was really getting to him. The worst thing he could do right now was panic, but that was exactly what he was doing.

After their meal there was a film showing in the rest room. The team did everything they could to distract each other from their situation. Aneisha even managed to get Dan laughing by doing an impression of Mr. Flatley trying to organise the class into groups for the school play. People started disappearing off to bed before the end of the film. It had been a tiring day and the next day would start early. The four agents walked back to their rooms together. "I wonder what they've got planned for tomorrow ?" wondered Aneisha.

"More of the same probably," said Tom. "Come on. Let's get a good night's sleep. See you in the morning," he said to Aneisha and Zoe.

Tom woke with a start in the middle of the night. What was that noise ? He listened and heard it again. It was a faint creaking noise, like a door was open somewhere. The room was in darkness. He didn't want to turn on the light and wake Dan, so he pulled out a pocket torch from his bedside table and turned it on. The cupboard door was shut. The door to the room was open, and swinging slightly in a draught ! Shocked, Tom turned his torch on to Dan's bed. It was empty. The covers were thrown back and Dan was missing.


	5. Chapter 5

**The team have to earn their places on the team by passing all the MI9 training tests. Will this be the end of the team or can they help get each other through ?**

_The door to the room was open, and swinging slightly in a draught ! Shocked, Tom turned his torch on to Dan's bed. It was empty. The covers were thrown back and Dan was missing._

Tom swore softly to himself. Dan must have gone sleepwalking. It was hardly surprising considering what a terrible day he had had. Tom got up and pulled on a pair of jogging bottoms over his pyjamas, pushed his feet into trainers and and pulled on his jacket. Sticking his security pass in his breast pocket and holding his torch tightly he headed out into the corridor. Now what ? How on earth was he going to find Dan ? He could have gone anywhere ! Tom looked carefully up and down the corridor and then set off in the direction they had come back that night.

Listening carefully for any sounds Tom made his way downstairs and out of the accommodation block. He shivered and zipped up his jacket. He needed to find Dan quickly. It was freezing. If he was walking about in his pyjamas he would be getting cold. Tom turned off his torch so he could see better in the dark. There was some moonlight out in the courtyard between the buildings. He let his eyes slowly adjust to the low light levels and looked around him carefully, trying to spot any movement. There ! He thought he got a glimpse of someone moving behind a window in the main building. At least Dan must be indoors.

Tom quickly crossed the courtyard and used his security pass to get into the building opposite. Not turning on his torch he made his way in the direction that he had seen the movement. He turned a corner and caught a glimpse of someone disappearing at the end of a corridor. "Dan ? Is that you ?" he called out softly. "It's Tom mate. Are you OK ?" he called. There was no answer. Not surprising really, if Dan was actually asleep.

Sighing, Tom set off up the corridor. What was he going to do when he found Dan ? Should he wake him up, or try to get him to walk back with him without waking him up ? He wished he'd asked Frank when he'd had the chance. Finally he reached the end of the corridor, and there was nobody there. Confused, Tom looked all around him. The corridor was lined with doors, but surely Dan couldn't have shut himself in one of them without Tom noticing. Just in case, Tom tried his security pass in one of the door locks, but it refused him entry. Well, there was no way Dan could have got in either.

Tom was frustrated. He had to find Dan. Maybe he had left the building He walked up to the door at the end of the corridor and pressed the door release to let himself out. Standing outside once again he heard a distant voice. With the brisk wind blowing, it was hard to locate the source of the sound. Finally, he decided to head towards the woodland surrounding the site. Tom bit his lip. If Dan had wandered into the woods he could lose him entirely. He had to find him quickly. Tom started to jog. He jogged clear of the buildings and stared around him desperately searching for any sign of Dan. The sound of someone speaking was getting much clearer now.

As he crossed a grassy area towards the start of the assault course he finally saw Dan. He was standing next to a steep bank which formed one of the obstacles. His eyes were open but staring into the distance. Tom walked up to him quietly. He didn't want to scare Dan when he was standing so close to the steep drop. "Dan ? Can you hear me ?" asked Tom. "It's Tom mate," he added softly.

"I did it properly. I did cut the right wire. I know I did. It shouldn't have blown up. It shouldn't have blown up," said Dan, over and over again. As Tom got close he could see that Dan was shivering. Carefully Tom reached out his arm and put it around Dan's shoulders.

"Dan. Come on mate. Come with me," said Tom gently. He pulled Dan back from the edge of the bank and managed to guide him in the direction of the buildings. Slowly he walked Dan back along the front of the main building and down towards the accommodation block. As he opened the entrance door a bright torch shone in his face. Tom held up his hands to block out the glare.

"Who's that ?" demanded a voice. "Oh, it's you !" they said in surprise. The torch was lowered. "What's happened to Agent Morgan ?" asked the voice.

"Who are you ?" asked Tom.

"Oh, sorry. Agent Marshall," said the man. "I heard voices and came to investigate." He reached out and touched Dan's arm. "He's frozen ! Get him inside quickly," ordered Agent Marshall. "Take him back to your room. I'll get something hot." With this he disappeared and Tom had to negotiate the stairs with Dan, which wasn't easy. Although Dan appeared to be on auto-pilot, there was no direction control and he tended to lurch about in different directions to the one Tom wanted him to go in. Finally he reached their room door with a sigh of relief.

As Tom guided Dan to his bed and got him to lie down, Agent Marshall came in carrying a couple of hot water bottles. "Thought these would be useful," he said, pushing them in next to Dan's shivering body.

"Why didn't it work ? Why didn't it work ? I don't understand," muttered Dan again. "I'm doing my best," he whispered.

"Sleep walking ?" asked Agent Marshall.

"Yes. Apparently he does it when he gets really stressed," said Tom. He took off his outdoor clothes. He was feeling tired now and quite stressed himself. "He's stressed because he keeps failing the technical tests. The weird thing is, I can't work out why."

"The tests are all designed to be individual," said Agent Marshall quickly. "I shouldn't worry about the tests Tom. Where did you find him ?" asked Agent Marshall.

"Oh, I got a glimpse of him in the main building, but then he must have gone outside again," said Tom. "I found him standing beside the assault course in the end."

"You sure it was him in the main building ?" asked Agent Marshall curiously.

"Well, who else would it be ?" asked Tom, confused.

"Oh, I can't imagine," said Agent Marshall. "You didn't see anything unusual then ?" he asked carelessly.

"No," said Tom, feeling a bit confused. "Like what ?" he asked.

"Oh nothing, never mind," said Agent Marshall. He checked Dan's pulse and felt the temperature of his arms. "Hm, looks like he's warming up again. It's lucky you found him when you did. He could have got seriously cold wandering about in the night," he said. "Well, I'll let you get back to sleep Agent Tupper. Goodnight," said Agent Marshall before leaving, closing the door behind him.

Tom climbed into bed and switched off the light. Dan had stopped muttering and seemed to be sleeping peacefully. Then a thought struck Tom. How had Dan got into the main building ? You needed to use your pass card. Unable to rest, Tom switched the light back on and got up. He went over to Dan's jacket. He checked the breast pocket and pulled out Dan's pass card. Tom glanced back at Dan asleep in his bed and then back to the pass card, Tom realised that Dan could not have got into the main building. Who had he seen wandering about the buildings in the night ? Something was going on.


	6. Chapter 6

**The team have to earn their places on the team by passing all the MI9 training tests. Will this be the end of the team or can they help get each other through ?**

_Unable to rest, Tom switched the light back on and got up. He went over to Dan's jacket. He checked the breast pocket and pulled out Dan's pass card. Tom glanced back at Dan asleep in his bed and then back to the pass card, Tom realised that Dan could not have got into the main building. Who had he seen wandering about the buildings in the night ? Something was going on._

Tom woke up the next day with a plan formed in his head. The first thing he had to do was make sure he didn't lose Dan again. If he went off sleepwalking, he could get seriously hurt or ill if Tom couldn't find him quickly. He needed to put a tracer on Dan. Tom wondered if he should tell Dan about this, but decided not to. If Dan objected, then there would be no way he could find him in the night again. While Dan was getting showered, he told him he was just popping round to the girls' room to ask for something, which was true, mostly.

Aneisha looked round the corner of their door and was surprised to see Tom standing there, holding a pair of pyjama bottoms. "Aneisha, I need a big favour. Can I come in for a minute ?" Tom asked quietly. Aneisha looked behind her to check that Zoe was dressed and let him in.

"What's wrong ?" asked Zoe immediately.

"Dan went sleepwalking last night," Tom told them. "It took me ages to find him and he'd gone outside. It was freezing and he got really cold. I'm worried that if it happens again, I could spend ages looking for him and he could get hurt. I want to plant a tracer on him so I can find him more easily, if it happens again," he explained.

The two girls looked at one another. "I can see why you'd want to do that," said Aneisha. "Why are you keeping it secret from Dan though ?" she asked.

"Dan might say no," said Zoe. The others looked at her. "That's what you're afraid of isn't it ?" she asked Tom.

Tom nodded. "If he says no, then I can't do it. I just want to be able to find him. I brought a tracker with me. I wanted to ask you if you could sew it into the hem of his pyjama bottoms or something for me please ?"

"No problem. I'll do it. I brought my emergency sewing kit," promised Aneisha. "Hand it over." Tom gave her the pyjamas, and Aneisha carefully inserted the tracer into the hem of the pants before sewing over the small hole. "There. All done. Anything else ?" she asked.

"No, that's brilliant Aneisha. Thanks," said Tom, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. "You're always good at this kind of thing." Tom paused. "You know, this whole reassessment business is crazy. We're a team, and we're a great team. There's no way they're going to break us up."

Aneisha and Zoe stood up and gave him a hug. "You are so right," said Aneisha giving him a kiss back.

"I'd better get back. I'll speak to you guys later OK ?" said Tom.

Tom dashed back into the boys' room and put Dan's pyjama pants back where he'd got them from. Dan emerged from the shower with a towel wrapped round his waist yawning. "Damn. I thought that would wake me up a bit. I don't know why I'm so tired !" he complained.

"We're probably due another physical test now," said Tom. "A bit of running around should perk you up a bit," he suggested.

Dan smiled at him. "You know me too well," he said dryly. "Bathroom's free if you want it," he added.

Later on, the group gathered for breakfast. "Any idea what's planned for today ?" asked Aneisha.

"I checked the noticeboard, but there's nothing up yet," reported Zoe.

They were nearly finished when Agent Marshall approached them. "Good Morning team," he said, smiling. "You're undercover assignment today will be explained in Conference Room 3 at 0900 hours sharp," he said, before walking away.

Tom checked his watch. "20 minutes. We'd better get moving," he said.

The team gathered in Conference Room 3 at five minutes before the deadline. There were no other agents in the room apart from a tall, blonde woman at the front. "Team Topaz ?" she asked them as they sat down. They nodded and she checked her watch. "Good, we'll get started then. This exercise only involves yourselves. You are to infiltrate a suspected KORPS facility which is believed to be developing a mind control formula, similar to the one you encountered in the Jubblyade episode. This mind control formula is aimed at adults and we need to know the mechanism which KORPS plan to use to introduce it into the food chain. There is a range of gadgets available for you to use," she said, pointing to a long table laid out with a range of devices, " And you must generate your own plan and carry it out. You will be provided with transport, but the rest will be up to you. You may begin."

The team looked at one another and then got up to look at the kit on the table. "Is this a real KORPS facility or an MI9 one ?" asked Dan.

"It shouldn't make any difference," said the blonde woman.

"It does it I hit someone," said Dan, frowning. "Are we supposed to really hit people ?" he asked.

"Yes you are," said the blonde woman. "You will be attacked by highly skilled agents," she added.

The group gathered round the table. "She still hasn't said if they're real or not," whispered Zoe. "I don't want to be knocking out MI9 agents."

"Me neither," said Aneisha.

"I guess we have to do what she says," said Tom. "Come on. Let's get kitted out."

Tom selected a laptop which included all of the usual MI9 software. There was a set of tracers, headsets with cameras, microphones and four spy-pods. "Are you going to act as coordinator as usual Tom," asked Zoe.

"Don't see why not. It's usually our winning formula isn't it ?" asked Tom.

Dan checked over the table and could see no weapons of any sort, apart from smoke grenades. That made sense. It was clearly an exercise with MI9 agents and not a real KORPS base no matter what the blonde woman said.

"Aw Dan. There's no string," said Aneisha teasingly.

"No problem," said Dan. "I brought my own," he said, pulling a roll of string partially out of his pocket.

"No way !" said Aneisha laughing.

"What ?" asked Dan, looking insulted. "Comes in handy. I like string," he added, shoving the roll back into his pocket. "You never know when you might want a piece of string."

They each took a small, black backpack and collected together their equipment. The plans for the building were loaded onto Tom's laptop. They studied them carefully. "OK, I think we need to enter here," said Tom, pointing to a side door on a large industrial building. "Usual sort of thing. Keep your thingies handy in case there are a lot of people inside." Thingies were what the team called the Proximity Detectors. These created an alarm if they came within twenty metres of another person. "Ready ?" asked Tom. They all nodded and turned to face the blonde agent.

"All right team. I'll take you to your transport," she said. "This way."

An MI9 driver took them from the training facility to the outskirts of a nearby town. They entered an industrial estate. "Better not take us too near," suggested Dan. "How about over by that scrapyard," he suggested, pointing the place out to the driver. "Can you wait for us over there, behind the yard ?" he asked. "You shouldn't stick out too much over there," he added. The driver nodded and went where he was asked.

Tom said, "I'll stay in the van, unless you need me OK ?" They nodded to him. "Right. Good luck guys. We'll make this a good one right ?" he said. After a quick group hug, the other three got out of the van and ran for cover.


	7. Chapter 7

**The team have to earn their places on the team by passing all the MI9 training tests. Will this be the end of the team or can they help get each other through ?**

_Tom said, "I'll stay in the van, unless you need me OK ?" They nodded to him. "Right. Good luck guys. We'll make this a good one right ?" he said. After a quick group hug, the other three got out of the van and ran for cover._

Dan, Zoe and Aneisha found a section of barbed wire fence which had collapsed. Aneisha wondered for a moment whether this collapse had been created by a previous team on an infiltration exercise. She smiled to herself thinking about all the people who had crept up to this building before. She wondered if people in the area round about had got used to seeing black vans parked by the scrapyard.

They had all crawled under the broken fencing before they noticed the old man standing staring at them. He looked like he was living rough and was holding a paper bag with the neck of a bottle sticking out of the top. He swayed gently and looked puzzled. "What you doing ?" asked the man curiously.

"Erm, team building exercise," said Aneisha, putting her finger to her lips. "Keep it quiet won't you ?" she asked with a grin. "We're breaking into prison !"

The man grinned rather toothlessly back at her, and tapped the side of his nose. "Don't you worry. I won't say a word," he promised before belching loudly. "Pardon," he said before turning and crawling back under a pile of boxes.

"Nice one Aneisha," said Tom's voice in their earpieces. "The entrance is about 50 metres to your right. Keep your eyes open," he warned.

Dan raised his eyebrows at the other two and they smiled back at him. "Planning on running with your eyes shut ?" he whispered, making them snigger.

They found the promised door. "I've hacked into the system. It will unlock for 10 seconds in three, two, one ..." said Tom's voice. Dan grabbed the handle and opened the door. They all shot inside. Their proximity detectors immediately started beeping.

"Tom ! You have got to get a vibrate only feature on these Thingies !" hissed Dan. "They give away your position whenever someone gets near !" he complained. They all looked around them desperately looking for somewhere to hide. Spotting a door down the corridor a little way they all dashed for it and ran inside. There was no time to check what was behind the door before footsteps passed along the corridor outside. The room they were in was dark. Zoe felt around and pressed a light switch.

Bright fluorescent strip lights flickered into life and glared down at them. They were in a small laboratory. On the benches were some containers filled with a clear liquid. Aneisha twisted the lid off one of the containers and held her spy-pod over the top. "It's not recognised," said Aneisha. "Some chemical compound. I'm sending it to you Tom," she said.

"I'll get it analysed," promised Tom. "See what else you can find," he suggested.

While Aneisha had been testing the chemicals in the containers, Dan and Zoe had been hunting round the room looking for any other clues. "I don't see anything which will tell you how it gets into the food chain," said Zoe. "There's nothing edible," she said.

Dan opened a cupboard which was filled with aerosol canister deoderants. That was weird. Why would they want so many ? Maybe they were using the contents as an ingredient for something. He closed the cupboard door and rejoined the others. "Maybe we should try somewhere else," Dan suggested.

"Guys ! That chemical you found is a nerve agent. Don't go anywhere near it understand ?" ordered Tom. "That must be the mind control poison we were told about," he added.

"Makes sense," said Dan. "Come on, we have to find out how they're going to get it into the food chain," he added. "Perhaps we can find a computer somewhere."

Zoe checked her Thingy and then stuck her head out into the corridor. "All clear," she said. "Come on !"

The three agents jogged back the way they had come and further into the building. They didn't encounter anyone else, which seemed a little odd. They carefully opened some doors and checked inside. Most rooms were empty. Some were occupied by people working, and then the team silently closed the door behind them before moving on.

At last they came to a small office with a laptop computer sitting on a desk unattended. "I'll try to hack in. You'd better keep watch," said Zoe. Dan and Aneisha split up. Aneisha watched at one end of the corridor and Dan at the other. Zoe's voice came over their headsets. "It's got an encrypted lock on it. It'll take me a few minutes to get in," she said.

"Don't take too long," warned Dan.

As he said this, Aneisha's Thingy started to chirrup. "Someone's coming," she said.

Dan checked his wrist. "I'm not getting anything," he said. He glanced around his corner back towards Aneisha. He couldn't see anyone. His corridor was empty too. Then he heard the distant 'Bing' of a lift arriving. One of the doors in the corridor had to be a lift. He heard the swoosh of doors opening followed by shouting. Aneisha and Zoe were fighting. He was about to go and help when he heard thundering footsteps. There were far too may people converging on their position. Dan's Thingy started to chirrup. He looked around and spotted a door opposite. He ran over and opened the door into a storage cupboard, filled with cleaning equipment and overalls hung on pegs. He jumped in and shut the door, with a silent apology to Zoe and Aneisha. Hiding in his cupboard he could hear shouting and banging, now much more muffled. Guessing that there would be a search, he hid himself further in the cupboard.

Dan heard the sounds of Zoe and Aneisha's captures followed by their headsets being taken. "Put them in the van !" was the last thing Dan heard. Then he heard more muffled footsteps and voices outside the cupboard door. Suddenly the door was thrown open and the cupboard was flooded with light. Dan froze in position.

"Nah ! Nobody in here," said a voice and the door was shut again. Dan breathed out a sigh of relief as quietly as he could. He'd been holding his breath all the time the door was open. He waited for what seemed like ages before he dared to open the door. There was silence over his headset. He knew that if he called Tom over the headset system, whoever had taken Zoe and Aneisha's headsets would be able to hear him, and come looking for him again. Tom obviously knew the same thing so he was keeping silent too. Dan guessed this must be as frustrating for Tom as it was for him.

Dan pushed up the baseball cap which he had used to cover his face and hair and stuck his head out of the door to look around. The corridors appeared to be empty. He stepped out, still wearing the overalls that he had slipped into in the cupboard in an effort to blend into the background. He took off his headset and helped himself to a broom as further disguise. Dan jogged back up the corridor to the room with the computer. A couple of people were looking closely at the computer discussing how much information, if any, had been compromised by the spies.

Dan sauntered past, holding his broom, as if he were just going to deal with some tidying somewhere in the building. The two people in the room barely glanced up to register his presence. It was funny how people never really looked at cleaners properly. It did make for the perfect disguise.

As he walked casually through the building, past a variety of people, Dan tried to work out where the two girls could be held. The KORPS people had mentioned a van. Thinking back to the plans Tom had shown them, he remembered a loading bay at the back of the building. That was probably where any transport would be parked. He would head that way.

As he passed the room they had first searched when they gained access to the building, Dan had a sudden thought. He went into the room and collected something, tucking it into his trouser pocket. Then he walked to the back of the building. On the way he passed a reception desk, behind which sat a pretty young woman talking on a telephone. There was a bowl of fruit on the reception desk. Dan walked over, grinned cheekily at the woman and grabbed an apple, biting into it as he walked away. The woman frowned at him and he winked at her in return. She smiled slightly and continued her conversation on the phone.

Once out of sight, Dan pocketed the apple and carried on to the loading bay. There were more people around here and he started brushing up some rubbish which was lying around on the floor. "Right. Take them to HQ. The Crime Minister will want to interrogate them herself probably," said a man in uniform. The man he was speaking to walked away and climbed into the driver's seat of a small white van. Dan jumped down off the loading bay and looking around to see that he wasn't being watched, walked up to the back of the van as its engine started and stuffed the bitten apple hard onto the end of the exhaust pipe. Whistling quietly, Dan walked away, sweeping up leaves and debris from the ground.

There was a terrific bang and the van's engine stopped dead. Dan glanced over as the driver of the van made several unsuccessful attempts to restart the van. Dan dashed over and pulled out his penknife. He only ever used it for cutting string and picking locks. Desperately he worked at the van lock, before it finally sprang open. Inside the van were Zoe and Aneisha, tied up and gagged. He cut their bonds and the two pulled off their gags and jumped out of the van. There was a shout behind them. They'd been spotted.

"Come on. We have to get out of here now !" shouted Dan. "Tom, where do we go ?" asked Dan, shoving his headset back on.

"Head out into the main car park," instructed Tom. "There's a pile of boxes beside the fence. We'll be on the other side," he told Dan.

"This way !" ordered Dan. Zoe and Aneisha ran with him.

"But the mission ! We don't know how they're going to get the poison into the food chain !" said Zoe. "I couldn't get access to the computer in time."

"Oh yes we do !" panted Dan. "There ! Over those boxes !" he shouted to the others.

Zoe ran at the boxes, leaping up like a gazelle from box to box. Once at the top she leapt over the fence and landed cat-like on all fours. Aneisha too a deep breath and also ran up the boxes. She staggered slightly as the boxes swayed and Dan had to push her back upright so she could continue to the top. "Come on Aneisha. I'll help you !" called Zoe from the other side of the fence. Aneisha clenched her fists and then jumped down. Zoe caught her before she could fall to the ground. By now the first guards had reached Dan as he started to climb the boxes. He had to kick some off. Now confused and forgetting for a moment who was MI9 and who wasn't, Dan had to kick hard to push off the men grabbing at his ankles.

At last Dan managed to climb to the top of the pile of boxes. Their black van roared up to the side of the fence and the door slid open. "Get in !" shouted Tom. The two girls jumped in. Dan took advantage of the van being there and jumped onto its roof. Then he grabbed the lip of the door frame and swung himself inside the van. Tom slammed the door shut and they sped off down the road and away from the shouting guards.

Panting for breath, Dan looked up at the two girls sitting in their seats. "You OK ?" he asked.

"We're fine," said Aneisha. "But like Zoe said, we've failed the mission. We don't know how they're getting the poison into the food chain," she said glumly.

"Ah, well that's where you're wrong," said Dan smiling happily.


	8. Chapter 8

**The team have to earn their places on the team by passing all the MI9 training tests. Will this be the end of the team or can they help get each other through ?**

_Panting for breath, Dan looked up at the two girls sitting in their seats. "You OK ?" he asked._

"_We're fine," said Aneisha. "But like Zoe said, we've failed the mission. We don't know how they're getting the poison into the food chain," she said glumly._

"_Ah, well that's where you're wrong," said Dan smiling happily._

Zoe, Tom and Aneisha spent the rest of the journey trying to get Dan to tell them what he had found out, but without success. Dan was obviously enjoying himself. They didn't have the heart to spoil his enjoyment.

Once back at the training centre they were told to report to the same conference room where they were given their assignment. The blonde woman was joined by Agent Marshall for their debrief. After looking at each other, Tom began explaining their strategy for infiltrating the KORPS base.

"You were captured by enemy agents," commented the blonde woman.

"Zoe and I were captured," said Aneisha.

"And you let them be captured," said the blonde woman to Dan.

"I couldn't help them," said Dan. "There were too many enemy agents. I would just have been captured too. I decided to stay hidden so that I could release them later."

The blonde woman looked slightly annoyed and glanced at Agent Marshall. "How did you manage to hide ?" she asked Dan.

Dan explained how he found the cleaning cupboard and put on the overalls and baseball hat to disguise himself. Once again the two senior agents looked at one another. There was a hint of a smile on Agent Marshall's face. He soon wiped it off when he turned back to Dan. "And what did you do then ?" he asked.

Dan told them how he adopted his disguise as a cleaner and picked up an apple from the receptionist's desk.

"You took an apple from right under her nose ?" asked the blonde woman, sounding incredulous.

"Yes. I thought I might need one. There weren't any potatoes," said Dan. The woman looked at him as if he were slightly deranged.

"Potatoes ?" she said, softly.

"Go on," said Agent Marshall. He was smiling openly now, as if enjoying the story.

"Yep, well I called in one of the labs to pick up the evidence," explained Dan. Then I guessed that Zoe and Aneisha might be in the loading bay so I headed there to try and release them.

"Why didn't you ask Tom where they were ?" asked the blonde woman.

"That would have given away that I was there," explained Dan. "They had Zoe and Aneisha's headsets. They would only have to listen in on them to realise I was in hiding. Then it would all have been over for us," he said. The woman reluctantly nodded her agreement. "Anyway I heard two agents saying that the girls were in the van and being taken to the Crime Minister for interrogation. I stuck my apple on the end of the exhaust pipe to block it."

"You what ?" asked the blonde woman, obviously baffled.

Agent Marshall was laughing. "Perfect. Old style espionage Agent Morgan !"

"I don't get it," said the blonde woman.

"You don't watch enough old spy movies," said Dan. "You know. In the war the commandos used to stick a potato up the exhaust pipe to make the car break down !" he said with a grin.

Agent Marshall looked at the woman agent. "It's old school spy craft Agent Wenner. We don't really cover it in technical," he said wistfully.

"Well, it's hardly technical !" said the woman crossly.

"Disabling vehicles sounds pretty technical to me !" said Tom crossly. "I didn't know you could do that," he added, sounding surprised at himself.

"Oh yeah. Sugar in the petrol tank is the other one," said Dan enthusiastically. "I've never actually tried that though," he added doubtfully.

"Mmm. Yeah, that would do it," said Tom thoughtfully, obviously making another mental note.

"And what did you do next ?" asked the woman, trying to get the debrief back on track.

"Oh, I picked the lock on the van with my penknife and freed Aneisha and Zoe. Then we were spotted and we had to run for it. I called Tom to give us a route since we were already found out," said Dan. "He told us to run for that pile of boxes and got the driver to bring the van round for us," he explained. "That's it."

The woman looked at him triumphantly. "Except for one thing !" she said. "Your mission ? Had you forgotten about that ?" she asked him pointedly.

"No, of course not," said Dan. He pulled a deoderant aerosol canister from his overalls pocket and put it on the table in front of them.

"Oh, I get it !" said Tom, grinning at Dan.

"It wasn't going into the food chain was it ? It's a nerve toxin. The target sprays it on their skin, thinking it's a deoderant. That would get adults, but not children," pointed out Dan, sitting back and folding his arms over his chest.

Zoe, Tom, Aneisha and Dan sat looking triumphantly at the two senior agents. Agent Marshall looked at the blonde woman and shrugged his shoulders. "I think they've succeeded, don't you Agent Wenner ?" he said with a smile.

Finally the blonde woman smiled openly. "Well done Team Topaz. You have passed your infiltration exercise. Excellent team work and good individual contributions by all of you. You are dismissed," she said, stepping forward and shaking their hands.

The team triumphantly walked back to their rooms to get changed. They had left all of their gadgets and equipment in the conference room and Dan had taken off his overalls and cap. Zoe put her arm around Dan's shoulder. "Well done Dan. You worked it out !" she said, giving him a big kiss on the cheek. Dan blushed with pleasure.

"I'm good with fruit !" he said grinning at his friends. They all laughed.

"It's a pity you couldn't find any potatoes !" said Tom, laughing.

"Yes. I don't know though," said Dan, rubbing his chin. "I'd have looked pretty silly walking around snacking on a potato."

Zoe had a fit of laughter imagining Dan casually eating a potato while walking the corridors of the KORPS base. It felt good to be messing around and enjoying each other's company again.

They separated and went to their respective rooms to change. Zoe and Aneisha were happily discussing the day's events when there was a knock on their door. Aneisha opened the door to reveal Agent Marshall. "I have your interim markings," said Agent Marshall, handing them each an envelope. He walked away and they could hear him knocking on the boys' door. Aneisha shut the door and the two girls tore open their envelopes.

"What have you got ?" asked Zoe.

"Expected final average 80. Current average 82," said Aneisha. "What about you ?" she asked.

"Expected final average 80. Current average 85," said Zoe.

"Whew, that's close !" said Aneisha. "Even for you," she added. "Oh my goodness !"

"The boys !" yelped Zoe and they leapt to their feet and ran for the door.

Zoe and Aneisha barely stopped to knock before bursting into the boys' room. "What have you got ?" demanded Aneisha, before registering the shocked looks on the boys' faces.

"Expected final average 80. Current average 83," said Tom.

"Expected final average 80. Current average 74," said Dan hoarsely.


	9. Chapter 9

**The team have to earn their places on the team by passing all the MI9 training tests. Will this be the end of the team or can they help get each other through ?**

_Zoe and Aneisha barely stopped to knock before bursting into the boys' room. "What have you got ?" demanded Aneisha, before registering the shocked looks on the boys' faces._

"_Expected final average 80. Current average 83," said Tom._

"_Expected final average 80. Current average 74," said Dan hoarsely._

Dan looked devastated. Zoe sat down beside him and wrapped her arms around his waist. Silently he turned and hugged her shoulders to him. Zoe could tell that he was close to tears. "It's going to be OK Dan," she said. "There's time. You got good marks for the undercover assignment. You must have done. It's what we do," she whispered gently.

Aneisha sat beside Tom on his bed. "We're not going to lose you Dan. I don't care what they say. You're part of the team, and this team sticks together !" she said fiercely.

Tom looked at her fondly and squeezed her hand. "That goes for all of us," he said firmly. "We are not giving up !"

Eventually, they managed to persuade Dan to come to dinner with them. He wasn't hungry now.

Finally, Dan said he was going to bed. He was tired. The others watched him go. "What are we going to do ?" asked Aneisha. "He's really upset. None of us is exactly in the clear either," she added.

"I don't know. I hope he doesn't go sleepwalking again tonight," said Tom, rubbing his tired eyes.

"At least you can track him quickly this time," pointed out Aneisha.

"Yes, if I wake up," said Tom. "Oh, that reminds me. The weirdest thing happened last night. I forgot to tell you." He explained about realising that Dan couldn't have been the person he glimpsed in the main building."

"Do you think it was Agent Marshall ?" asked Zoe.

"Why do you ask ?" asked Tom.

"Well, he was the only other person you saw wasn't he ?" asked Zoe.

"Yes, but he seemed really curious about what I'd seen and whether I was sure it was Dan," said Tom doubtfully. "I don't know. I suppose it could have been him," he added. "What really bugs me, is that I still don't understand how Dan failed all those technical tests," said Tom. "It's almost like he was set up to fail."

Aneisha frowned at him. "Do you think that's true ?" she asked him seriously. "Who could do that ?"

"I don't know. It could be done by whoever ran the tests," said Tom.

"Agent Greening ?" asked Zoe.

Tom shrugged. "I don't know. I'm going to have to turn in. Let's start looking into it tomorrow OK ?" he asked. "You can help me."

"No problem. We're all in this together," said Aneisha. Zoe nodded her agreement.

Later that night, Tom woke with a start. At first he was confused and sleepy. Then he heard the faint creaking noise. Groaning, he got up and put on the light. Sure enough, Dan's bed was empty. Tom couldn't understand where the guy got the energy from. He was aching all over. He walked stiffly across the room and opened up his laptop. It displayed a schematic of the buildings in the training centre. A red dot appeared for the tracer Tom had put in Dan's pyjamas. He was inside the main building. Tom was surprised. How had Dan got in there ? Surely he wasn't able to use his pass card in his sleep. That would be impressive. Tom checked Dan's jacket and, sure enough, his pass card was still in the top pocket.

Sighing, Tom switched on his spy-pod and confirmed the signal from the tracer. Leaving the laptop on the table he put on his clothes over his pyjamas again, picked up his torch and set off after Dan. At least he didn't have to go wandering all over the site this time. When he reached the main building, he found the door swinging open slightly. Tom stopped in surprise. It was lucky Dan hadn't set off an alarm. Goodness knows what kind of trouble he would have got into. Tom pulled the door closed behind him and headed in the direction of Dan's signal.

As Tom got closer to the signal he heard a commotion. It sounded like some sort of struggle and a muffled shout. Anxiously he started to run. "Dan ! Are you all right ?" Tom shouted. There was a sound of running feet and a door slammed before Tom reached the corner. "Dan !" he shouted when he saw Dan lying on his back on the floor, hand clutched to his face. "What happened ?" he asked, kneeling beside his friend.

"Ugh, Tom ! What's going on ?" asked Dan, sounding very confused.

"You were sleepwalking. What happened to you ?" asked Tom.

"I'm not sure. God that hurts !" complained Dan. Tom looked around for a light switch and turned on the lights.

"Dan ! You're bleeding !" said Tom, helping Dan sit up. Blood was pouring from Dan's nose. Tom pulled out a clean handkerchief and gave it to Dan to help stem the bleeding. "Come on. Let's get you cleaned up," he said.

"Agent Morgan ! Agent Tupper ! What's going on ?" asked another voice. It was Agent Marshall, carrying a torch and wearing trainers and a dressing gown.

"Dan was sleepwalking," said Tom, suspicious about the sudden appearance of their supervising agent. "He seems to have hit his face," he added by way of explanation.

"Mm. Rather nasty," said Agent Marshall, peering into Dan's bloody face. "Were you on your own ?" he asked Dan.

"I don't know. I don't remember," said Dan. "How did I get here ?" he asked, looking around him for the first time.

"Ah, shame. Well, we'd better take you to the medical room," said Agent Marshall, waving the two boys after him. After about ten minutes of pinching his nose over a bowl, Dan finally stopped the bleeding. Agent Marshall gave him a couple of painkillers "Right, you two should get back to bed," said Agent Marshall. He walked back with them to the accommodation block. "This is the second time you've gone sleepwalking since you've been here," said Agent Marshall, rather loudly. "Have you tried anything to help you sleep a little better ?" he asked.

Dan frowned. He didn't want to talk about his sleepwalking. "I don't know. I just do it sometimes, you know," he said moodily.

"It might happen again," warned Agent Marshall. Dan just shrugged and he and Tom went to their room, after saying goodnight to the supervising agent.

Once they were safely in their room, Dan threw himself back into bed. "Well at least you stayed indoors tonight," said Tom gratefully.

"What ? Agent Marshall said I've been sleepwalking before," asked Dan.

"Yes, last night," said Tom. "I eventually found you over by the assault course. You were frozen. Agent Marshall found us that time too. He got a hot water bottle for you."

Dan started at him blankly. "I don't remember anything," he said.

"Yes, well tonight you managed to walk out of here and let yourself into the main building, leaving the door open behind you, without setting off any alarms," said Tom. "I can't believe you managed that !"

"Me neither," said Dan, screwing up his face. "Did I have my pass card ?" he asked.

Tom pulled Dan's pass card out of his jacket pocket. "Nope," he said.

"Weird," said Dan, looking puzzled.

"And that's not all," said Tom. "Just before I reached you it sounded like you were struggling with someone and they ran off when I called out. I think they punched you in the face," he said.

Dan looked hard at his friend. "Why didn't you tell Agent Marshall ?" he asked.

"Because that's the second time he's appeared out of nowhere when you've been wandering around the compound," he said. "I don't trust him. Somebody hit you and it could have been him."

Dan rubbed his head in confusion. "Why ?" he asked.

"Oh, and there's one other thing," said Tom. Dan raised his eyebrows.

"I think you're being set up to fail," said Tom.

Dan looked shocked. "Why ? How ?" he asked.

"I don't know, to either," admitted Tom. "But we're going to find out. Tomorrow, if we have another technical test, and if you fail, I want you to smuggle the bits out for me OK ? However you can manage it. Aneisha and Zoe might be able to help. Just get the bits out and I'll check them over. I think you've been sabotaged on purpose," he said.


	10. Chapter 10

**The team have to earn their places on the team by passing all the MI9 training tests. Will this be the end of the team or can they help get each other through ?**

"_I think you're being set up to fail," said Tom._

_Dan looked shocked. "Why ? How ?" he asked._

"_I don't know, to either," admitted Tom. "But we're going to find out. Tomorrow, if we have another technical test, and if you fail, I want you to smuggle the bits out for me OK ? However you can manage it. Aneisha and Zoe might be able to help. Just get the bits out and I'll check them over. I think you've been sabotaged on purpose," he said._

The next day, Tom and Dan both struggled to get up. They both felt tired. Dan had a bruise on his nose and a partially black eye. "What happened to you ?" asked Aneisha, looking shocked when she first saw them.

"I don't know. I think I walked into a door. Tom thinks somebody punched me," said Dan. Aneisha hurriedly waved them both into her and Zoe's room.

Zoe looked up and became concerned when she saw the bruising on Dan's face. "What happened last night ?" asked Aneisha.

"Dan went sleepwalking. I think he disturbed somebody and they hit him. I found him lying on the floor in the main building," explained Tom. "Then Agent Marshall appeared again. I don't know about him," he said. "But first, I want to find out if Dan is being set up to fail these technical tests. Can you two help Dan sneak out any of the equipment that he uses in his test please ? I want to look it over afterwards."

Zoe and Aneisha promised that they would help Dan recover his test equipment. They checked the noticeboard as they passed and saw that they did indeed have a technical test as their first exercise, followed by a physical test. Once again they reported to Agent Greening. They were each assigned to a computer and told to hack through various security features to recover a set of files. They were given one hour to complete the task.

As usual, Tom completed the task quickly. Realising that it was not possible for Dan to sneak out a set of computer software, Tom decided instead to try to break into Dan's computer to find out how his was set up. Zoe finished next, glanced at Tom and left the room. Next Aneisha finished. She glanced at Tom who winked at her. She smiled very slightly and left. Agent Greening looked at Tom in a slightly worried way. "Tricky algorithm this one," said Tom. "I've not seen it before," he added. The supervising agent frowned, but looked back down at her screen. Tom breathed a sigh of relief. He had now identified Dan's computer and had gained access through the security protocols.

Tom searched through the setup on Dan's computer and compared it to his own. They were different. Two of the encryption algorithms on Dan's computer were much more complex than the ones on Tom's. The exercise on Dan's computer was basically much harder than the ones they had been given. Satisfied at confirming his suspicions, Tom altered the security features on Dan's computer to make it easier for him to complete the test. Then Tom signed off and gave the secret files to Agent Greening. Shortly afterwards, he heard Dan completing the task as well. They left the room together.

"Sorry mate. There was no way I could take anything away with me," Dan whispered to Tom.

"It's OK. I hacked into your computer and had a look for myself," Tom assured him. "Your exercise was harder than ours. You were set up to fail again," he told his friend. "This whole thing is a con !" he hissed angrily.

Dan looked more shocked than angry. He glanced at his watch. "Come on, we need to report for the next exercise. Hope you're feeling fit," he said to Tom. Tom groaned.

The two boys met Zoe and Aneisha in a large gym. Four agents came out to meet them, along with Agent Marshall. "Excellent. Team Topaz, you're here for a full length combat training test. These agents will be your opponents this morning," he explained, waving towards the adults standing behind him. Aneisha looked at one man closely. He looked strangely familiar.

The man looked at her and smiled slightly. He lifted his hand up to his mouth as if drinking and instantly she recognised him. He was the drunken, homeless man who had questioned them outside the KORPS base. She grinned her recognition and he smiled back. "You're good," she said, admiringly.

"I think so," he agreed with a cheeky grin. "Not too bad yourself," he added.

"You have each an individual opponent. You will begin with individual exercises and then move on to a group exercise. Agent Thompson is in charge," said Agent Marshall. One of the black-clad older agents nodded. He looked rather stern to Aneisha. She really hoped she didn't get Agent Thompson.

Once Agent Marshall left, Agent Thompson told each of the teens who would be their individual opponent. Both Aneisha and Zoe were assigned a woman opponent. Tom and Dan were each assigned a man. Dan got Agent Thompson.

"What happened to your face ?" asked Agent Thompson.

Dan shrugged. "I was sleepwalking. I don't exactly know what happened. I woke up on the floor with a nosebleed," he explained.

"Maybe you walked into something," suggested Agent Thompson.

"Probably," agreed Dan.

They then started sparring. Each of the senior agents ran through a series of different defence and attack techniques. Tom's test finished first. After his opponent had thrown him on the floor three times in three different ways, Tom asked, "Can I just surrender now please ?" rather plaintively. The man who had played the homeless man in their undercover assignment smiled at him and helped him to his feet.

"You're the tech guy aren't you ?" asked the agent. Tom nodded tiredly. "You're not bad for a techie," said the agent. "Keep yourself fit and you'll be OK," he added.

"I think I'll be the one to decide that Agent Parr," said Dan's opponent through gritted teeth. "We're supposed to be putting them through a test, not sympathising with them Agent !" he barked. Agent Parr shrugged and smiled at Tom when the other man wasn't looking. Tom instantly liked him.

Aneisha was the next to stop, shortly after Tom. She raised her hands in surrender and asked to take a break. She and her opponent sat at the side taking long drinks of water. Zoe and Dan continued fighting, but Dan was tiring too. His face was aching, not helped by a couple of hits taken from Agent Thompson. The man seemed determined not to hold back and Dan felt like he had some bruised ribs to add to his injury collection. Finally, Agent Thompson managed to get through Dan's defence and flipped him on to his front with his arm locked behind his back. Dan winced in pain.

"Keep that defence up ! You should have anticipated !" barked the older man, pulling tighter on his arm lock. Dan groaned in pain.

"Thompson ! There's no need for that !" said Agent Parr sharply. "Let him go. He needs a rest," he added.

Dan slumped on to the floor in relief as Agent Thompson finally let go and stood back. He got his breath back and levered himself up off the floor. Tom and Aneisha came over to help him up. "Come and have a drink," said Aneisha. "You look shattered !" The three of them sat at the side sipping water until Zoe finished with her opponent. The adult agent looked in worse shape than Zoe as they also came for a break.

"Right, team exercise," said Agent Thompson after a couple of minutes.

Zoe's opponent looked up in disbelief. "Can't I have a couple of minutes first ?" she said plaintively.

"These our only our junior agents !" barked Agent Thompson in disbelief.

"Yeah, well you take on the girl then !" said the woman sharply.

"Zoe's taken out whole teams of KORPS agents on her own," said Dan, admiringly. "You should see her in action !"

"Just so long as I'm on the same side !" said the woman with a half smile.

Dan smiled back at her, when Agent Thompson started up again. "Right, enough chat. Let's get started !" he ordered. Everyone groaned and got to their feet.


	11. Chapter 11

**The team have to earn their places on the team by passing all the MI9 training tests. Will this be the end of the team or can they help get each other through ?**

"_Team exercise. Let's see how the four of you deal with a group attack," he announced._

"What are the rules of engagement ?" asked Agent Parr. "For the exercise obviously," he added, putting the emphasis on 'exercise'. Tom looked sideways at the older agent. He was clearly concerned about Agent Thompson's attitude. Tom didn't blame him. He certainly seemed to have it in for Dan, who looked like he was nursing a couple of sore ribs.

"Each body contact is to be treated as if it's a real hit," said Agent Thompson. "No hard hits, if you can avoid it. Use any props you find lying around. No knives, no guns. Understood ?" he asked. Everyone nodded. "Good, take up positions," he ordered.

Zoe, Dan, Aneisha and Tom grouped tightly together. The four older agents stood in front of the teens, standing side by side. "Now !" ordered Agent Thompson. All four adult agents launched their attacks. The two women both attacked Zoe. The two men attacked Dan. This took Aneisha and Tom by surprise. After a brief look at one another they each went to the support of their friends. Aneisha tried to pick off one of Zoe's attackers from the side. Tom looked around to see if he could find something to give him an advantage. He grabbed a skipping rope which was lying at the side of the hall.

Aneisha managed to land two kicks on the side of the leg of one woman. The woman shouted, "Taking five !" and stood back from the fight, counting down from five. Aneisha guessed that her kicks would have caused the woman to slow. She wasn't sure if she should attack the woman further while she was counting. After a couple of seconds, she decided she should. In a real attack, you had to take advantage of every opportunity to knock out the opponent. She gathered her fists and launched a hefty karate hit at the woman's head, stopping just short of actually hitting her face. "I'm out !" shouted the woman, and sat at the side of the room. Aneisha looked around her quickly.

Tom had his skipping rope in his hand and tried to swipe it under the legs of the two older agents. Agent Thompson jumped out of the way, but the rope tangled itself around the legs of Agent Parr, who was caught off balance and staggered to the side, knocking into Dan. They both fell on the floor. Dan punched at Agent Parr's face, again stopping before making contact. "I'm out !" shouted Agent Parr, rolling off Dan and out of the way. Unfortunately, this gave Agent Thompson an opportunity to grab Dan's jacket and pull him up for a punch in the stomach. Tom heard Dan grunt. That punch had made contact ! Tom was furious. So was Aneisha, judging by the way she hurtled past him and launched at Agent Thompson.

Agent Thompson was thrown off balance by the ferocity of Aneisha's attack and he let go of Dan's jacket. Dan sank to all fours on the floor, gasping for breath. "You said no contact !" yelled Aneisha, taking a massive sweep at the older agent's head with her foot. She stopped short of hitting him, but he didn't step down. He turned and launched his fist at her head. Now irate at the man's actions, Tom threw himself at the older man and grabbed his arms, holding him back. He just missed Aneisha's head thanks to Tom. Then Zoe threw herself into the fray, grabbing Agent Thompson's legs and throwing him to the floor.

"Argh !" shouted Agent Thompson.

"How does that feel ?" hissed Zoe, through gritted teeth.

"I think you're out Agent Thompson," said Agent Parr, standing over them. "In fact, I think you were out after Agent Jones's kick don't you ?" he asked pointedly.

"I'm in charge here," panted Agent Thompson from the floor. Zoe and Tom still had him pinned down and they weren't about to let go until the man surrendered. Aneisha was helping Dan get to his feet.

"And you will stay in charge if you surrender now and stand down," said Agent Parr, suddenly sounding a lot more threatening. "Otherwise, I might find it necessary to report your conduct during this exercise, which has frankly been lacking in integrity," he snapped.

"All right ! I'm out ! Happy now ?" shouted Agent Thompson. Zoe and Tom released him and stood back. The man glared at Dan as he got up.

"He didn't call himself out either," complained Agent Thompson, pointing at Dan. All of the teens opened their mouths to angrily complain, but Agent Parr got in first.

"That's probably because you punched all the air out of his lungs Agent Thompson. This is a non-contact exercise, in case you've forgotten. We all saw what you did ! I'd suggest you give each of this team their marks. Those will be for a good pass of course, won't they ?" demanded Agent Parr. He was standing with his hands on his hips and looked really angry. He did not look the jovial and mild-mannered agent they had met at the start of the exercise. It was clear that this was not a man to be messed with and the four agents felt instant respect for him.

Agent Thompson was looking a lot less sure of himself now. "Yes, of course it will. Well done team," he said, with no hint of grace. "Dismissed."

Zoe, Tom and Aneisha gathered round Dan protectively. "I'm fine," muttered Dan.

"I'm sure you are, but I want you to report to the medical room in any case," instructed Agent Parr in a friendly voice. "Let the first aider check you out please. They will decide just how fine you are. Dismissed," he added with a smile. The two women agents shook their hands and wished them luck as they left the room.

"Come on Dan. First Aid," said Tom, a little bossily.

"Oh, is this really necessary ?" moaned Dan.

"Do you want to disobey Agent Parr's orders ?" asked Zoe.

Dan sighed. "No. He's a good guy isn't he ?" The others agreed with him but walked him to the First Aid room in any case. "You don't all have to come in !" he complained. Zoe and Aneisha agreed to wait outside, and Tom went in with him.

There was a sign on the wall telling them how to alert the duty first aider to attend, but the door opened and a man walked in just after they arrived. "Agent Morgan ?" asked the man looking between the two boys. Dan held up his hand. "Good, sit on the bed and take off your top please ?" asked the man. "I'm Agent Dawes. Agent Parr told me to see you. I understand you took a hit on the stomach ?" he asked. Dan nodded tiredly. There was no hiding the wince as he pulled his shirt over his head.

It was Tom's turn to wince. There were several clear bruises forming on Dan's chest, and a large mark on his stomach. "Hm. I thought this was a non-contact session," said Agent Dawes in a concerned voice. "This shows rather a lot of contact. Lie down on the bed for a minute please ?" Dan did as he was told. The medic then gently felt around his ribs and stomach, asking him a lot of questions about whether or not he felt sick, dizzy or faint. Dan shook his head. "How did you get the black eye ?" asked the medic.

Dan sighed. "Apparently I was sleepwalking. I must have hit something," he explained.

"What kind of speed do you sleepwalk at ?" asked Agent Dawes, sounding amused. "You must have been doing a 50 metre sprint to do that."

"I really don't know. I don't remember anything," said Dan.

Finally, Dan was told not to do anything else for the rest of the day. Agent Dawes gave him some painkillers and sent them off. The girls were waiting outside for them and they went to check the noticeboard. The team had been scheduled for a technical test, but someone had crossed it off and written 'break' in pen. Obviously Agent Parr had reported back about Dan's injuries. They headed to the rest area, got drinks and sat down on the comfortable chairs.

"Boy, that guy really had it in for you !" complained Tom. "I can't think why. Maybe he's the one who's setting you up to fail the technical tests."

"Are you really sure ?" asked Dan, rubbing his face. He was too tired to get upset about anything now. "He seems more the physical type. I wouldn't have thought he'd get to go near the technical stuff," he pointed out.

"Yeah, I'm very sure that you're being step up. I just don't know by whom," said Tom. "I'm going to tell Frank," he said, making a decision.

"What are you going to tell Frank ?" asked a voice behind them. They all turned to look and found Agent Marshall standing behind them.


	12. Chapter 12

**The team have to earn their places on the team by passing all the MI9 training tests. Will this be the end of the team or can they help get each other through ?**

"_Yeah, I'm very sure that you're being set up. I just don't know by whom," said Tom. "I'm going to tell Frank," he said, making a decision._

"_What are you going to tell Frank ?" asked a voice behind them. They all turned to look and found Agent Marshall standing behind them._

"Erm," said Tom, looking at the others.

"Why don't you just tell him," said Aneisha.

Tom looked nervously at the older agent. "Well, I've found out that Dan is being set up to fail the technical tests. Each of his tests had been rigged to either be impossible to solve or more difficult than the tests which the rest of us took," said Tom.

"Hm," said Agent Marshall. "That's a serious allegation. I think you'd better all come to my office," he said. Glancing nervously at one another, the four teens stood and followed Agent Marshall to his office.

"Now then," said Agent Marshall, once they were all sitting in his office with the door closed, "What makes you think that Dan is being set up to fail ?" he asked.

"Each of the tests has been rigged. I hacked into Dan's computer on the last test and found that all of the encryption algorithms he had to solve were more complicated than ours," explained Tom. "The bomb defusing test was obviously a fix. It wasn't wired up correctly and for the other technical test, Dan was given the wrong set of instructions. I don't know who is responsible," he said.

"Ah, well that is easy to explain," said Agent Marshall. "It was me."

The four teens sat dumbstruck, staring at the other man.

"Hm, yes, Frank did warn me that you would probably see through my attempts to disguise the changes to the tests," said Agent Marshall, leaning back in his chair and scratching the back of his head. "Most unfortunate."

"So, would you care to explain why you're trying to make Dan fail his tests ?" asked Zoe angrily.

"Ah, well, to tell the truth, I'm not. You see, we have a problem here at the training centre. A few weeks ago it became apparent that we had a double agent on the premises. HQ tracked some information leaks to this site, but were unable to identify the culprit. I was luckily put in the clear because on two separate occasions, I was not present when leaks occurred. Hence I was asked to arrange this little, deception."

"I don't get it," said Dan.

"No, well, I'm sorry to say that you have been set up Agent Morgan. MI9 were interested in a particular characteristic of yours which they thought would be very useful," explained Agent Marshall.

"He sleepwalks," said Tom, starting to see what was going on.

"Yes, exactly," said Agent Marshall. "MI9 knew that when under severe mental pressure, Agent Morgan sleepwalks. The leaks from the site appeared to be happening at night, but we could never get CCTV footage of any activity and also even when I was asked to patrol, I couldn't spot any activity. We were at a dead end. It was felt, that if Agent Morgan were to go on some random late night rambles, he might flush out the culprit."

"That is insane !" complained Aneisha. "And what about Dan ? He's sleepwalking into trouble, literally !" she added angrily.

"Ah, well, Frank said he would alert Agent Tupper here to keep an eye on his colleague which he appears to have done quite successfully," said Agent Marshall. "I left the door open so that he would be able to get into the building, and he did manage to make contact with the double agent, if only briefly."

"But he got punched in the face," said Tom. "I found him lying on the floor. How's he supposed to defend himself when he's asleep ?"

"Yes, I am very sorry about that. Unfortunately, we are now in a spot of bother. Now that Agent Morgan knows that he is not in any danger of failing his MI9 tests, then he is unlikely to go sleepwalking. MI9 is going to have to come up with a different plan," said Agent Marshall. Aneisha could have sworn that he sounded slightly relieved.

"Well, not necessarily," said Dan. Agent Marshall looked at him curiously.

"Whoever is stealing secrets doesn't know that I'm not going sleepwalking. I could pretend to sleepwalk. They know that I don't see anything when I'm sleepwalking, so they might just assume that I'm not seeing them, and you could catch them," suggested Dan.

"That's a pretty good suggestion," said Agent Marshall, stroking his chin.

"There's no way you're wandering about on your own again !" said Zoe. "This time it's got to be a team effort," she added.

"I was hoping you'd say that," said Dan, smiling at her. "To be honest, I'm pretty tired. It would be nice to have some backup," he added quietly.

"OK. We need a plan," said Aneisha. "Can you leave the door to the main building open again, Agent Marshall ?" she asked.

"Yes, no problem. I have access to all technical aspects of the buildings and building security," said Agent Marshall. "Tell me what you want, and I can probably arrange it for you."

"Good, how about a concealed camera, microphone and earpiece for Dan ?" asked Tom. "Full headsets for the rest of us and access to CCTV round the main building ?" Agent Marshall nodded. "Anything else ?" Tom asked the other three.

"Some kind of restraints ?" suggested Dan.

"Are you going to hide them in your pyjama pants ?" asked Aneisha, disbelievingly.

"Mm. Good point. Maybe one of you could carry them then," suggested Dan. "I'll just be bait again and try to draw them out. You three be the cavalry. How about it ?" he asked. The others all nodded.

"Sounds like a plan," agreed Agent Marshall. "Where do you want to get access to the CCTV ?" he asked Tom.

"I'll use my laptop from our room," said Tom. "Just get me the access privileges and I'll do the rest," he promised.

Agent Marshall looked surprised, but quickly recovered and agreed to Tom's request. "You should probably get an early night and get some rest first," he suggested. "The leaks always occur after curfew so you don't need to be in position before that."

They all agreed with the plan and headed off for dinner. "You look really tired," Zoe whispered to Dan.

"There's a reason for that," said Dan dryly. Zoe looked puzzled. "I am," said Dan, taking pity on her. He smiled at her. She was a kind girl and it wasn't fair to tease her. He slipped his arm round her shoulders and gave her a small hug. "I'll be glad when this is all over," he whispered to her. "I've had it with tests !"

Zoe's face cleared. "Me too," she said smiling back at him.

"Hey you two !" said Aneisha sharply. "Enough with the whispering in each others' ears. You could get a reputation !" she teased.


	13. Chapter 13

**The team have to earn their places on the team by passing all the MI9 training tests. Will this be the end of the team or can they help get each other through ?**

Alarms went off quietly in two bedrooms at the MI9 training camp when everything was quiet and the camp was in darkness. Dan groaned and hauled himself out of bed. "Do I look like I just rolled out of bed ?" he asked Tom.

"Yep, good disguise Dan," agreed Tom. "I think I'll go with the same look if you don't mind."

"Fine by me," agreed Dan.

Dan fitted his hidden microphone and camera and stuck in the hidden earpiece. He glanced at Tom who nodded from his laptop. "Hi Aneisha and Zoe, are you online ?" asked Dan.

"We're here !" came the girls' voices in reply. "Ready when you are," added Zoe.

Dan started slipping on his trainers, but Tom cleared his throat. "Er, Dan, you usually go barefoot," he pointed out.

"Oh what ? The floor's freezing !" complained Dan, before huffing and taking his trainers off again. "Right, I'll get going," he said. "Oh, wait a minute. What do I look like when I'm sleepwalking Tom ?" he asked. He stuck his arms out in front of him, but Tom shook his head.

"No, you just sort of shamble about with a blank look on your face. Sometimes you mutter stuff as well, like how you failed the test and stuff," said Tom.

"Blank ?" asked Dan, looking blank.

"Yeah, that's it !" agreed Tom. "You know, how you normally look," he teased.

Dan gave Tom a dirty look and then attempted to clear his expression before opening the door and walking out into the corridor. Tom checked the image on his screen which was coming from Dan's camera. He had borrowed another laptop which he was using to look at the CCTV feed. "There's nobody showing on the CCTV yet Dan. You might as well head off for the main building and get in position," he suggested.

"Where's that ?" asked Dan quietly.

"Oh, somewhere near the main offices I guess," suggested Tom. He waited until Dan had made his way out of the residential block before telling Zoe and Aneisha to start following. "Dan's just going into the main building now," Tom told them. "You need to keep well back OK ?" he said.

"We will Tom. Don't worry," whispered Aneisha. "Wait, someone's coming !" she hissed. Tom saw the tracers for Zoe and Aneisha ducking under the stairs. They had to be hiding in the shadows under the stairs. There was silence for a couple of minutes. "Someone just left the accommodation block and is heading for the main building," reported Aneisha. "We're following."

"Who was it ?" asked Tom.

"Couldn't see," said Zoe. "Walked like a man."

Tom followed the three dots on his screen. Dan seemed to be loitering about the main building, wandering around in an aimless manner. Zoe and Aneisha were tracking slowly across and into the main building. Tom felt his tension increasing. He didn't usually get too tense on a mission, but for some reason, he didn't feel totally in control of this one. He couldn't put his finger on what was bothering him, but he had to put it to the back of his mind so he could concentrate properly on what was actually happening.

Dan was struggling to maintain the pretence of sleepwalking around. It was really dark inside the main building and he had already stubbed his toe on the corner of a piece of furniture through staring straight ahead of himself. He'd had to stifle the curse he'd wanted to make. His feet were freezing and he was starting to get cold generally. He wished he'd thought of putting something else on under his pyjamas to keep warm.

Then he heard footsteps coming up the corridor behind him. He wanted to turn and look, but didn't dare risk it. "Oh, for God's sake. Don't you ever sleep ?" he heard a man mutter. "Ah, forget it. You're not even looking are you ?" said the voice. "I'll get it over with." He heard a door opening and closing. Dan turned to try to see where the man had gone.

"Tom !" Dan hissed. "Did you hear that ?" he asked.

"Yeah, Zoe and Aneisha are coming. Don't want to risk them getting too close though. Can you get nearer to where the guy went ?" asked Tom.

"I'll try. I'm guessing around this door here," said Dan, walking towards the door where he thought the man must have been standing. He stood facing the door. "Here goes !" he said, taking a deep breath and trying to clear his face of expression again.

"Dan, we're in position. We've got sight of you," whispered Zoe's voice in his ear. Just knowing Zoe was close by made Dan feel a whole lot better. He trusted her completely. He thought again. Actually he trusted all of his team completely. They were a unit. They were going to nail this guy !

Suddenly the door opened and a man stepped out towards him and then jolted back in shock at finding Dan staring straight at him. "Jeez ! You are such a pest kid ! I should have given you a proper hiding this morning when I had the chance. If that interfering Parr hadn't been there, you would have got one too boy !" hissed the man angrily.

"No way !" whispered Tom's voice in Dan's ear. "It's Agent Thompson."

The older agent waved a USB memory stick under Dan's nose. "Pity you can't even see this kid. See, I'm just off to send this to KORPS. Stealing secrets from MI9 is child's play. Well, I would say child's play, but really this is a game for grown-ups only. MI9 think they can stick me in this backwater, training snotty-nosed kids how to do my job. My job !" he said, his voice rising steadily. "They'll be sorry," he hissed. "I should just give you another bop on the nose shouldn't I kid ? That'll show you !" he said, pulling his fist back for a punch to Dan's face.

Dan focussed on the man's face. "Only if you want one back mate," said Dan threateningly.

"What the ?" said Agent Thompson looking shocked. "Why, you're .." he trailed off.

"Yup. Awake," agreed Dan. "Now how about that punch ?" he asked. The older man came to and swiped at Dan who ducked out of the way.

"Girls !" shouted Tom's voice in Dan's ear.

"Oi you ! Mr Non-Contact fighting ! Make contact with this !" shouted Aneisha, rushing in with a high kick to the older agent's body. She caught him in the stomach as he twisted to face her. The air grunted out of his body as he flew to the side. Zoe arrived, looking on at Aneisha in surprise and obviously feeling rather redundant. She pulled a pair or handcuffs from her pocket and clicked them on to the man's wrists.

"So, that went pretty well," said Tom's voice. He sounded surprised to Dan, which made him snigger.

"Thanks Tom. I think Aneisha deserves extra credit for that flying kick," said Dan.

Aneisha looked rather pleased with herself. "I think so myself actually," she said, grinning back at him.

"MI9 security are on their way," reported Tom.

Agent Thompson seemed to have recovered his breath. "You kids think you're so clever. You don't know anything !" shouted the agent between gasps for air. "KORPS will win. They always win. You're nothing kids on a one-way street to nowhere !" he yelled more loudly.

Dan was annoyed, but was too tired and cold to bother arguing with the man. The older agent clearly had issues with the whole teenage agent thing. He rubbed his arms to try to warm up. After a few minutes Tom appeared, holding Dan's dressing gown and trainers. "Thought you might want these," he said.

"Oh thanks Tom !" said Dan gratefully, shoving his freezing feet into the shoes and wrapping himself tightly in the dressing gown. He felt so tired now. He just wanted to go back to bed. After what seemed like hours, the security team arrived. Agent Thompson was taken away and the team were eventually dismissed. More security people swarmed into the office where they'd found Agent Thompson and started securing the site again.

Once Agent Thompson had been taken away, Agent Marshall appeared. "Good work team ! You've done really well. I expect you're all pretty tired. Why don't you turn in ?" he asked. "I'll sort things out with Security," he added.

They all agreed and headed back to their rooms. "I could sleep for a week," groaned Dan.


	14. Chapter 14

**The team have to earn their places on the team by passing all the MI9 training tests. Will this be the end of the team or can they help get each other through ?**

_Once Agent Thompson had been taken away, Agent Marshall appeared. "Good work team ! You've done really well. I expect you're all pretty tired. Why don't you turn in ?" he asked. "I'll sort things out with Security," he added._

_They all agreed and headed back to their rooms. "I could sleep for a week," groaned Dan._

The team woke late the following morning. The MI9 security team wanted to talk to them, particularly Dan and Tom. They were interviewed and debriefed on their activities over the previous few days. The man in charge of the investigation apologised to Dan for having to lie to him about the training camp. Everyone was relieved that the culprit had been caught and life could get back to normal. The security people spent the rest of the day setting the site's security systems back to normal. Someone had interfered with the CCTV to block images in the main building at certain times of the night. Alarms had also be changed to hide illicit activity.

It was late in the day before the MI9 security team left. The camp commander announced that they would take the rest of the day off to recuperate and celebrate. Everyone on site, apart from Agent Marshall, had been under suspicion and everyone was pleased to be in the clear again. Agent Parr came up to the team as they were relaxing in the rest area and shook Dan's hand. "Well, at least I know what Agent Thompson was going for you in such a big way," he said to Dan. "I hope there's no lasting damage ?" he asked.

"No, the bruises will wear off in a couple of days," said Dan. "I'm just a bit tired now," he admitted.

Agent Parr sympathised and told them all to take it easy. They'd had a long night and a stressful few days. "Oh, that reminds me, do you know what scores we actually got ?" asked Tom.

Agent Parr shrugged his shoulders and suggested they ask Agent Marshall.

Agent Marshall came over to speak to them. "Your scores ? Ah, sorry about that. The ones I gave you were totally made up I'm afraid. I'll work out the real ones if you like and I'll give them to you tomorrow before you leave. I'd suggest you get a good night's sleep. Why don't I get you all a hot chocolate before you go off to bed ?" asked Agent Marshall.

Aneisha and Zoe didn't fancy one, but Agent Marshall insisted on getting one for Dan and Tom. He returned shortly after with two tall mugs filled with foamy hot chocolate. Tom took a sip, but found it too sweet. Not wanting to upset Agent Marshall he thanked him and said he'd enjoy it when it had cooled down a bit.

They sat chatting for a while longer and Dan drank his hot chocolate. He seemed to be on autopilot and was soon yawning helplessly. "Do you want mine as well ?" asked Tom. "I'm not too keen on it." Dan nodded and managed to drink about half of Tom's cup before admitting that he was falling asleep where he sat.

"I'll have to go," said Dan, staggering to his feet. "I'm dead. See you guys in the morning," he said before leaving them.

An hour later the others also headed for their rooms. Everyone was relaxed and happy now that all the lying and deceit was over. The bad guy was locked up and everyone was free to carry on with their work. Tom said Goodnight to the girls and opened his room door as quietly as possible so as not to wake Dan. He needn't have bothered. Dan was sound asleep in his bed. It looked like a jet fighter could fly through the room and he wouldn't waken.

Tom got ready for bed, switched off his light and climbed gratefully into bed. He was asleep within minutes.

Tom woke with a start in total darkness. Confused he looked around him, trying to work out what had woken him. Then he heard a familiar creaking noise. "Oh, no way !" complained Tom, sitting up and turning on the light. However, when he looked over, Dan was still fast asleep in his bed. Shocked, he looked back to the door, which was gently swinging about. Someone had opened the door, and it wasn't Dan. "Dan ! Wake up !" hissed Tom. Dan didn't move.

"Come on Dan !" said Tom, getting up and shaking his friend. This was no time to be sleeping. "Dan ! Wake up !" said Tom. He pulled at Dan's arm, but he just rocked about and showed no sign of waking up. Puzzled, Tom reached over and checked Dan's pulse. It was very slow. Tom took his spy-pod and set it to read Dan's vital functions. Everything was very slow. It seemed to be more than just sleep. Tom wondered if Dan had been drugged. Why would anyone want to drug him ? Maybe to stop him sleepwalking about the site ?

Suddenly all of Tom's earlier doubts and fears started flooding in on him. Who would bother to drug Dan after the double agent had been caught ? Maybe someone who was working with that double agent. Maybe someone who was capable of all the technical stuff which Tom strongly doubted was Agent Thompson's strength. Cursing quietly, Tom pulled on his clothes and shoes, grabbed his spy-pod and phone and phoned Aneisha.

"Tom ! What are you playing at ? It's the middle of the night !" complained Aneisha in a loud whisper.

"Neish ! This is really important. Can you wake Zoe, get dressed and come in to our room ?" asked Tom. "I wouldn't ask you if it wasn't really important," he promised. Reluctantly Aneisha agreed and a few minutes later, she and Zoe dashed through the door to the boys' room.

"So, what's so important ?" demanded Aneisha, pushing the door to behind her. "Has Dan not woken up yet ?" she asked, staring in disbelief at Dan still fast asleep in his bed.

"I don't think he's going to wake up any time soon," said Tom grimly. "I think he's been drugged."

Zoe dashed over to Dan's side. "Dan ? Can you hear me ?" she asked, pushing his fringe back from his face. She patted his face and then blew in his ear. She looked up at the other two with concern on her face. "Do you think he's going to be OK Tom ?" she asked.

Tom shrugged. "Well, he seems to be sleeping pretty peacefully. I don't think he's in any danger. There's no way we're going to wake him up though," he said.

"Who would drug Dan ?" asked Aneisha.

"That's the thing," said Tom. "I woke up and the door was swinging open. I thought Dan was sleepwalking again, but as you can see, he's going nowhere soon ! Someone must have opened our door to check that we were both asleep and didn't close it properly."

"So you think this person is the same one who drugged Dan," said Aneisha. "Makes sense. Why else would someone open the door to check on you. But, wait a minute, you're awake !" she said.

"Well I am now," said Tom folding his arms.

"Yes, but they must have expected you to be drugged too," pointed out Aneisha. "Hot chocolate ! Tom, you and Dan both had a hot chocolate !" she said excitedly.

"I didn't drink mine," said Tom slowly. "Dan had a bit extra of mine too. Wow, no wonder he's out for the count !" he added.

"But why ?" asked Zoe. "Agent Thompson has been caught. Why would anyone be drugging Dan now ?"

"Agent Thompson didn't exactly grab me as the technical whizz type," said Aneisha. "I never liked that guy, but he didn't seem all that smart to me," she added.

"That's what's been bothering me," said Tom. "Even Dan said that Thompson didn't seem likely to be able to access and sabotage his technical tests. What if Thompson was working with someone else who looked after all the technical stuff. What if that person is now getting to work in safety after all the security people have left and nobody is trying to catch them ?" he asked. They all stood looking at one another.

"Someone is trying to steal secrets tonight !" whispered Aneisha.

"And we've got to stop them," whispered Zoe.


	15. Chapter 15

**The team have to earn their places on the team by passing all the MI9 training tests. Will this be the end of the team or can they help get each other through ?**

"_Someone is trying to steal secrets tonight !" whispered Aneisha._

"_And we've got to stop them," whispered Zoe._

"I'll get my laptop up and running," said Tom, pulling out his computer. Soon he had a view of the CCTV footage again. As they watched, a figure flitted across the screen on a camera in the main building. "They're there," said Tom, pointing. "Come on !"

"Wait, shouldn't you stay here with Dan ?" asked Zoe.

"Dan's fine. He's just going to sleep it off," said Tom. "I'm not leaving you two to deal with this double agent on your own. I'm coming with you," he said.

"I'm calling Frank," said Aneisha. She pulled out her phone and after apologising to Frank for waking him, explained what was happening. Frank promised to get to them as soon as possible with another security team.

"Right, let's do this," said Tom tensely. He checked the corridor was clear and pulled the door fully open.

"Er, Tom ?" said Zoe. "I think maybe you'd better let me go first ? You bring your spy-pod. We might need it," she suggested. Tom was going to complain, but thought better of it. Zoe was right. She was the better field agent. He nodded and they swapped places. "Come on !" said Zoe, and they headed off towards the main training building.

The three of them cautiously approached the entrance to the main building. This time the door was locked. Zoe took out her passcard but the door would not unlock for her. "Leave this to me," said Tom. He pulled off the card reader's cover and connected his spy-pod to the electronics inside. After keying instructions for a minute, the lock light turned green.

"Nice one Tom !" whispered Aneisha. Zoe pushed the door open, looked around and then entered the building quickly, followed by the other two. "Which way ?" asked Aneisha.

Tom consulted his spy-pod. "We saw someone near the main offices again on the CCTV," he said. "Let's head that way." They set off in the direction of the offices. When they came close Zoe pointed to a door.

"There's a light on inside," she whispered. They took positions around the door. Zoe tried the door handle, but the door was locked. She raised her eyebrows at Tom. He placed his spy-pod against the wall next to the door and started keying instructions again. There was a soft click inside the door frame and Tom nodded to Zoe. She silently counted down from three and then kicked the door open. The three agents jumped through the door. Immediately the room blazed with a bright light before they could do anything more than register the shape of a body standing by a computer screen. Completely blinded they all tried to shield their eyes and Tom felt himself pushed aside as someone ran from the room, slamming the door shut behind them. As soon as the door lock clicked again, the room was plunged into darkness.

Cursing the inky blackness he now found himself in, Tom groped for the door handle. It was locked again. He stared at his spy-pod, but his eyes had still not adjusted from the brilliant light and he couldn't see the screen. "I'm sorry Zoe, Aneisha, I can't see properly," he groaned.

"Me neither," said Aneisha. "All I can see is a big purple blob over everything !" she complained. They groped their way round the room until Tom found the computer which the thief had been using. Gradually he was able to see the screen.

"They've been downloading top secret information," Tom reported. "We've got to stop them."

Aneisha pulled out her phone and called Frank. "Frank, we're too late. We're locked in a room and the thief has downloaded some information. How long till you get here ?" she asked. She sighed at Frank's answer. "OK. We'll do our best to get out of here and try to catch the guy. What ? No we didn't get a look at them," she explained before closing the call.

"How long until Frank gets here ?" asked Tom.

"At least another 20 minutes," said Aneisha. "We're on our own still."

"Not necessarily," said Tom. "We could wake some of the agents," he said.

"One of them could be the thief," said Zoe.

"I don't think they're going back to bed now, do you ?" asked Tom. "Aneisha, could you try to find the room numbers of some of the agents we know ?" he asked. "I'll try to unlock the door again," he added.

After a couple of minutes work, Aneisha had the room numbers for several agents and Tom had unlocked the door. They ran back towards the accommodation block. The first door they knocked on was for Agent Marshall. After several tries, Tom unlocked the door and they stepped inside. The room was empty. It looked as though the bed hadn't been slept in. Tom and the others looked at one another in shock. "It's him !" said Tom. "He's the other agent !"

"I never trusted him !" complained Aneisha. "I should have listened to my own gut."

"Don't blame yourself Aneisha. This guy was hiding in plain sight," said Tom. "He is the obvious candidate though. He said he had access to all the site's security features. He ran the technical tests and he got himself in the clear by being absent when information leaks occurred."

"He managed that because he'd organised for Agent Thompson to carry out the dirty work for him," said Aneisha. "He didn't even show his face when Agent Thompson was being arrested ! Agent Thompson could have given him away."

"Exactly !" agreed Tom. "Boy, he's clever. He gave us those hot chocolates. He's drugged Dan and he must have wanted to drug me too. He's played Frank and the rest of MI9 as well as us," Tom said before a long pause. "He knows this site inside out. We need some help ! Who is next on your list ?" he asked Aneisha.

"Agent Parr," said Aneisha. "Let's find him," she said.

A few seconds later they were knocking loudly on another door. A sleepy Agent Parr opened the door and stared at them in disbelief. "What on earth are you doing ?" he asked. Then he instantly registered the anxious faces and asked, "What's wrong ?"

Tom explained about the drugging of Dan, the information download from the site office and how they had found Agent Marshall's room empty. The older man frowned at them. "I'll get dressed," he said shortly. Only a couple of seconds later, he stood next to them, fully dressed, carrying a torch and shoving some other unidentified items into his pockets. "Agent Marshall you say ?" he asked them. They nodded tensely. "Makes sense," he said. "We need more help. That guy knows the place inside out."

"That's what we're worried about," said Tom.

"Agent Parr smiled at them. You're a smart team," he said. "Come on, I'll wake up some more people. Go and check on your friend. Make sure he's OK. I'll meet you at your room."

They parted company and Tom, Aneisha and Zoe headed back to their rooms. Zoe arrived first and she felt sick when she saw the door to Tom and Dan's room swinging wide open. "Tom !" she whispered. They all ran to the door and looked in. Dan's bed was empty. "Do you think he woke up and followed us ?" asked Zoe.

"No," said Tom. "He wasn't going to wake up any time soon. Someone's taken him."

"There's only one someone," said Aneisha grimly.

"What's wrong ?" asked Agent Parr. He was accompanied by the two women who had assisted with their combat training, as well as Agent Greening and the camp commander.

"He's taken Dan," said Tom. His mouth was dry and his voice sounded hoarse.


	16. Chapter 16

**The team were told they'd have to earn their places on the team by passing all the MI9 training tests. It's not over yet.**

"_What's wrong ?" asked Agent Parr. He was accompanied by the two women who had assisted with their combat training, as well as Agent Greening and the camp commander. _

"_He's taken Dan," said Tom. His mouth was dry and his voice sounded hoarse._

"He must have wanted a hostage. He knows you're on to him," said Agent Parr.

"It's not just that. KORPS have a reason for wanting Dan," said Tom, sneaking a look at Zoe. She saw his look and went pale. "If Agent Marshall knows this, he could take the stolen information and Dan to the Crime Minister."

The adult agents looked at one another. "This is serious," said the camp commander. "We need to call for backup."

"Frank is on his way with a security team," said Aneisha. She glanced at her watch. "He should be here soon."

"I should have stayed with Dan," said Tom bitterly.

"I don't think that would have been a good idea," said Agent Parr. "Agent Marshall is a very experienced agent. I don't think you would have been able to stop him, and you could easily have been hurt or kidnapped yourself," he said. "You need to concentrate on trying to find him," he added.

"That's right Tom. Like you said. The guy was hiding in plain sight. Where do we start looking ?" Aneisha asked the older agents.

"Well, he can't have got too far, carrying the dead weight of a body," said the camp commander thoughtfully. The three teens winced at the man's choice of words.

"He, wouldn't be dead would he ?" asked Zoe hesitantly.

"What ? Oh, no, no, definitely not," said the commander hastily. "He needs a live hostage and if what you say about KORPS wanting to capture Agent Morgan is correct, Agent Marshall will go to some effort to keep him alive."

"Oh, I am such an idiot !" said Tom suddenly. "We can find out exactly where he's taken Dan," he added. He grabbed his laptop and logged on to the tracer hidden in Dan's pyjama trousers. A dot showed up on the schematic for the camp. "There !" he said pointing.

"You have a tracer on him when he's asleep ?" asked Agent Greening disbelievingly.

"Agent Morgan was brought here specifically because he sleepwalks when under stress," explained the camp commander. "MI9 didn't know who the mole was within our staff and we were all, including myself, kept in the dark about their plans when Team Topaz arrived." He turned to Tom. "I assume you planted a tracer on his night clothes so that you could find him if he wandered off ?" the commander asked Tom with a small smile.

"Yep, exactly," said Tom. "Where is this ?" he asked, pointing at the screen.

"Hm, the disused laboratories at the rear of the camp. Close to the perimeter fence. Probably well known to Agent Marshall," said the commander thoughtfully. "Agent Greening, could you please collect one of those experimental wall cameras please. Bring it to here," he said pointing at the schematic on Tom's screen. Agent Greening nodded and silently disappeared. "Agent Wilder, would you bring a knockout pistol from the armoury please. We can't use gas without risking an overdose of sedative for Agent Morgan." Again the woman nodded and disappeared without a sound. "Right, the rest of you with me," said the commander.

They all gathered and followed the commander outside. Keeping to the shadows between the buildings, they crept through the compound towards the distant building. Agents Greening and Wilder met them, carrying a box each. Agent Greening took a strange looking black device from her box and after a nod from the commander, crept up to the laboratory building and started scanning the device along its wall. The commander took a screen from the box and pulled up an image. A strange black and white reverse image came up showing the room behind the wall. It mainly showed the skeletons of cupboards and benches, chairs and boxes. At last it came to a picture of the outline of a man walking about, doing things with his hands. Slightly further away it showed a motionless figure lying on the floor. The commander clicked his fingers and Agent Greening stopped and looked back. They all checked the position of Agent Greening. The commander waved her back to their position.

"OK," he whispered. "It looks like Agent Morgan is there," he whispered, pointing at a spot part way down the building, "And Agent Marshall is close by. This is a high risk situation. I think he's preparing some kind of defences. Since he's a highly trained technical expert they're probably quite good defences. We need to find a way in quickly."

"We always end up in the air conditioning vents," said Aneisha.

"There aren't any. This building has no air conditioning," said the commander. The three teens looked at him in surprise.

"Even KORPS have air conditioning," said Tom.

"I'm afraid this building predates KORPS," said the commander dryly.

"What do you do when it gets hot ?" asked Tom.

"Seriously ? Open a window," said Agent Parr.

"So how do we get in ?" asked Zoe.

"Well, we could try the door," suggested Agent Parr. They all looked at him, assuming he was joking. He clearly wasn't joking. "I don't see that we have any alternative," he pointed out. Reluctantly they had to agree. The door to the laboratory didn't have the modern card swipe door lock. It had a mechanical lock. Agent Parr pulled some plastic explosive from his pocket and wrapped it around the lock. They stood back until the explosive banged and then they all tried to charge through the door.

There was a bit of confusion as several bodies jammed in the narrow doorway, before they were able to release themselves. They found Agent Marshall standing calmly in the centre of the room, next to Dan's sleeping body. He was holding a small box in his hand. The commander held his arms out to hold everyone back.

"Marshall, you're under arrest !" announced the commander.

"Ah, Sir. So good to see you again. You will notice this box in my hand. This is the trigger for the explosives which are wrapped around Agent Morgan's neck," said Agent Marshall coolly. As he spoke he pressed a button set into the small box in his hand. Zoe, Tom and Aneisha all sucked in a sharp breath, but nothing happened. They looked at the commander in a puzzled way.

"He's set the trigger. It's a dead man's button," explained the commander. "If he lets go of the button, the explosives will detonate. Very clever."

"Oh well done !" said Agent Marshall insincerely. "Full marks boss !" he said sarcastically. "It's a pity you didn't think I was clever when it came to promotions last year isn't it ? Didn't think I was very clever then, did you ?"

Tom and Aneisha glanced at Dan and together spoke for him. "Issues !" They looked at one another and grinned.

"Issues ? Yeah issues !" shouted Agent Marshall. "I'll give you issues. You kids come here for your little tests. So what if Agent Tupper can decode encryption faster than me. I've kept up with the new technology. I'm just as good with computers. He's not the only one who can invent new devices you know !" he continued shouting. "Well, I'm going somewhere that my talents are appreciated. KORPS can use someone like me, and I won't be working with a bunch of teenagers there !" he yelled, little bits a spit flying out of his mouth.

"It's not your technical ability that's holding you back Marshall," said the commander quietly. "It's your attitude. Field agents need a level of fitness and imagination. As far as imagination goes, these younger agents have the edge. They are better able to survive and succeed. That is why they are risking their lives every day," he added. Tom blushed.

"Yeah, very moving !" snarled Agent Marshall. He moved his head as they heard the sound of engines outside the building. "That's my ride !" announced Agent Marshall. "Ah ah !" he said as Aneisha and Zoe took a step towards him. He waved his little white box about. "Don't forget my little surprise package will you ?" he said.


	17. Chapter 17

**The team were told they'd have to earn their places on the team by passing all the MI9 training tests. A happy ending for some. I hate posting the last chapter. Waaah !**

"_Yeah, very moving !" snarled Agent Marshall. He moved his head as they heard the sound of engines outside the building. "That's my ride !" announced Agent Marshall. "Ah !" he said as Aneisha and Zoe took a step towards him. He waved his little white box about. "Don't forget my little surprise package will you ?" he said._

"Yeah, well don't forget you're standing right beside Dan, so when it explodes, it will probably take your own leg off !" said Tom dryly. Zoe glanced at him in shock.

Agent Marshall looked taken aback, glancing down at Dan's still form and nervously shuffled further away. "I'm taking this with me," he warned. "One wrong move from you lot and the boy gets it !" he threatened. With this he edged his way slowly towards the back of the building. There was a loud bang and part of the wall shot inwards. Two men in KORPS uniform appeared at the gap in the wall.

"Marshall !" shouted one of the men. "Have you got the information ?" he asked.

"Yes of course. I've got it on me," Agent Marshall shouted back. He was still backing up towards the hole in the wall.

"Give it to us now !" ordered one of the KORPS agents.

"Do you think I'm an idiot ?" snarled Agent Marshall. "I'm coming with you." Then he grinned maliciously at the MI9 agents and jumped through the gap in the wall.

Immediately Tom and Agent Greening jumped down next to Dan. "Looks pretty standard," commented Agent Greening. "Let's get it off him quickly," she added. She and Tom started working their way through the wiring, looking for the trigger. Agent Greening reached to cut off the trigger wire when Tom grabbed her hand.

"Wait, I've got a better idea," he said.

"It needs to be quick !" snapped Agent Greening.

"Trust me," said Tom.

As he started working on the wiring, Agent Greening looked up at the others watching them intently. "You need to get them out of here," she told the commander grimly. "We'll deal with Agent Morgan.

The commander nodded. "Agreed. Everyone out !" he snapped. Zoe and Aneisha started to complain, but the others simply hustled them out of the building. "Not now Agents," said the commander. "You trust your colleague don't you ?" he asked.

"Yes, of course," said Zoe, trailing off.

"Yes, we do," said Aneisha firmly. "Come on Zoe. Tom wouldn't risk it if he didn't think he could do it would he ?" she asked kindly.

Zoe smiled faintly at her and grabbed her hand. "No, of course. You're right," she agreed. The two girls hugged one another.

At the back of the building, Agent Marshall jumped into a black van, it's engine revving ready to go. The KORPS agents jumped in with him and the van set off. Agent Marshall grinned nastily at the other agents. "Time to say goodbye !" he growled before releasing the red button on his box. He heard a distant explosion and smiled happily. "Goodbye Agent Morgan and all your little friends !" he chortled.

One of the KORPS agents looked sharply at him. "Did you say Agent Morgan ?" asked the KORPS agent. "Agent Daniel Morgan ?"

"Yes, why ?" asked Agent Marshall, suddenly looking less certain.

"Did you just kill Daniel Morgan ?" asked the KORPS agent again.

"Yes. He's a spy brat !" snapped Agent Marshall, wondering what all the fuss was about.

"You idiot !" snarled the KORPS agent. "The Crime Minister wanted that boy. You could have captured him and brought him with you !"

"Well, I didn't know !" protested Agent Marshall.

"Search this fool. Take the data !" ordered the KORPS agent. Two thugs suddenly jumped on the squealing MI9 mole and roughly searched his body for a data store. They pulled a memory stick out of his jacket pocket and showed it to their boss. He took it and downloaded the data on to a laptop. Then he nodded and without bothering to look up said, "Get rid of him."

The door of the van was pulled open and the two KORPS thugs grabbed the now screaming Agent Marshall and flung him through the open door of the speeding van. They slammed the door shut and continued their journey without further comment.

Meanwhile back at the MI9 training camp the commander was on the phone to Frank and the security team to alert them about the departure of Agent Marshall with the KORPS team when there was an explosion inside the building.

"No !" screamed Zoe and Aneisha, rushing forwards. The older agents tried to restrain them, but were too late as the two girls ran for the entrance door. They reached it as a cloud of smoke billowed out, wrapped around Tom and Agent Greening dragging a still unconscious, but very much alive, Dan. "Oh Tom ! He's alive ! You're all alive !" screamed Zoe hopping from one foot to the other. The other agents dashed forwards and helped to carry Dan's body clear of the building.

"Good work Agent Tupper !" said the commander. Agent Parr slapped Tom on the shoulder. "And Agent Greening," he added with a smile at the other agent. She smiled back at him.

"It was Agent Tupper's idea," she told the commander. "He wanted KORPS to think Agent Morgan had been killed."

The commander's phone rang. "Agent London reports that they've found a badly injured Agent Marshall lying in the road and they are in pursuit of the KORPS van. Other teams are going to join them so that they can retrieve the stolen information. Meanwhile, we need to get your friend warmed up. He must be very cold now," said the commander, checking Dan's pulse.

Dan was carried back to his room and put to bed. The commander insisted that the rest of the team also return to bed and get some sleep. "You've more than earned it," he said as he saw the teens to their rooms.

The next day Tom woke late and looked across at Dan who was still sleeping. While he was looking, Dan opened one eye, blinked and closed it again. "Hey Dan ! Wake up !" said Tom grinning. This time both of Dan's eyes opened blearily.

"Whu huh ?" mumbled Dan.

"You've missed all the action Dan," said Tom happily.

"Whaction ?" grunted Dan. He lifted his head and dropped back on to his pillow again. He rubbed his eyes and groaned. "Urgh. Whas matter with my brain ?" he muttered. With an effort, Dan rolled over into a sitting position on the edge of his bed, but unable to stop himself, carried on falling forward. Tom grabbed him before he hit the floor.

"Wow, Dan. Easy there," said Tom, helping his friend back on to the bed. "Maybe you should just sit for a bit," he suggested.

Dan slumped back against the bed head, blinking. "What's going on ?" he asked, obviously shocked by his own behaviour.

"Agent Marshall was another double agent. He drugged you. It was the hot chocolate. He must have meant to drug me too, but I didn't like it, remember ?" Dan looked at him helplessly and shook his head. "We've been up half the night trying to catch him. He kidnapped you, put explosives around your neck and used you as a hostage. It's all sorted now though," said Tom.

Dan stared at him, trying to take it all in and then sighed. "I need to go to the bathroom," he said. He carefully rolled off the bed, but his knees gave way as he tried to stand. "Bother," he muttered. Tom walked round to help him up, but Dan simply crawled across the floor to the bathroom door. Tom opened it for him. "Thanks," said Dan as Tom closed the door behind him. Tom wondered how Dan was going to manage, but decided it was best to leave his friend to get on with it as best he could.

There was a knock at the door and Tom let in Zoe and Aneisha, who were dressed already. "Where's Dan ?" asked Zoe. The bathroom door opened and Dan appeared, hanging on to the door frame. "Oh," said Zoe and she went to help him. This time Dan didn't refuse the help and Zoe and Tom took an arm each and helped him back to his bed. "Are you coming down to breakfast ?" asked Zoe.

"You go," said Dan, waving to Tom. "I'll just sit for a bit until my head stops spinning," he said.

Reluctantly the others left and Dan sighed with relief. Resting his head back against the wall, he tried to relax and ignore the dizziness and queasiness which was overwhelming him. There was another knock at the door, and the agent who had given him first aid on the previous day came in, accompanied by another man. "I hear you're not feeling too great Agent Morgan," said the first aider. Dan nodded slowly. "This is Doctor Dunbar," said the man, waving to his companion. "He's going to check you over," he said. "I'll get you some breakfast shall I ?" he asked before leaving the room.

The doctor checked Dan over thoroughly, then told him that the effects of the sedative should wear off in a couple of hours. He had to rest until the weakness and dizziness wore off. Dan was brought breakfast in bed and the rest of the team returned to sit and chat. They filled him in on the previous night's activities. Later in the day, Frank arrived and drove them all home. They were each dropped off in turn.

The next day was a school day. Tom walked past Dan's house to walk with him to school. A plumber's van was parked outside the house. "What's up with the plumbing ?" asked Tom curiously when Dan came out to meet him.

"That ? Oh, the weirdest thing happened yesterday," said Dan. "Mum was washing my stuff from the training camp and she said my pyjama bottoms sort of exploded. The plumber's trying to fix the washing machine," he explained.

"Oh, shame !" said Tom a bit too brightly. Guiltily he turned away. Maybe he should have mentioned the tracer in Dan's pyjamas after all.

Some weeks later in an MI9 training camp, a group of trainee agents were being shown a video. The instructor spoke. "You will work in teams. I expect all of you think you know about working in a team. You will have been told all the usual things, such as knowing the strengths and weaknesses of your colleagues. You'll be told that sticking together will ensure your survival. We've decided to show you a real team in action. The group in the video we are about to show you are an existing team of younger agents within MI9. After only a year together they have come to be recognised as one of our best teams. Perhaps this video will tell you the real meaning of teamwork," said the trainer before starting the video and killing the lights.

Up on the screen came a group of nervous looking teens. "These agents have been told that this is an individual test which would determine whether they were good enough to remain in MI9. This was not actually the case, but I want you to see what effect this had on them," said the instructor. They watched as the four agents set off. Two were obviously more physically adept than the other two. One boy in particular was struggling to keep up. The others could be seen encouraging him and staying close together at the start. The two quicker agents ran off, and it was only when the two slower agents reached the wall that they could be seen reaching down to help their team-mates get over the wall.

The lights came back on and the instructor spoke again. "Well, agents, when we ask you to work as a team, that's what we mean. Your lives will depend on each other; not the technology, not the gadgets nor the weapons. Your lives depend on your team. Be a good team. Agents dismissed !"

THE END


End file.
